Memories
by LucidDreamingEnigma
Summary: She knows all of them. Their names, backstories, everything. Thing is... they say that they've never even met her before. Then are those memories even memories and how is it possible that she can see into someone's near future with them? (Not an OCxAnyone fic)(Writing gets better as story progresses... at least I hope...)(Update: Story has been HEAVILY revised.)
1. Chapter 1: The Forgotten Switch

She blinks, tilting her head to the side, and furrowing her brows at the sun rays shining through the trees, because maybe it was just her, but they looked sort of… different, somehow.

She sighs and stands up, wiping off any dirt or twigs off of her clothes, before shoving her hands into her pockets and strolling further into the forest.

It was weird really. The fact that she had woken up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how she had gotten there in the first place. And no matter how much she tried to remember, she just… couldn't. All of her memories of before she had woken up were lost to her which led her to believe that maybe she had lost her memory somehow. It was a dramatic notion all on its own, but what other explanation was there?

Lost in her thoughts, she doesn't notice how much time has passed until she's staring up at an orange stricken sky, the clouds floating by having changed their color from a white to a pastel pink. With no memory of where her home might be, she sighs longingly and picks a tree to rest at, but freezes when a flock of birds scatter from the trees in a panic. She somehow knows immediately why, much to her surprise, and her first thought is that she has to run, but she stands there frozen with fear instead.

A few leaves crunch beneath someone's footsteps and a woman's voice sounds afterwards. "You know, it isn't safe for little girls to be wandering around this late at night." She says.

The girl takes a shaky deep breath and turns around hesitantly, a small smile plastered onto her face. "I know." She says a bit too calmly, searching for where the voice could've come from. She spots a woman dressed in dark clothing and mesh leaning against a tree about three yards/ two meters away from her, staring at her with cold, gray eyes while twirling her already curly hair slowly.

The girl watches her for a few moments before taking a step back and then turning and walking back towards her decided resting area beneath a tree carefully. "Just taking a little rest and then I'll be off." She says, moving to sit down. The hairs on her neck suddenly stand up.

"I think it'd be better if you stayed with my group and I for a while, don't you?" The woman whispers, now standing by the girl's ear. "It would be safer. There are a lot of bad people roaming these woods, after all."

The girl's eyes widen. It shouldn't be possible for someone to move that fast, especially with barely a sound. She swallows, trying to hide the fear now threatening to creep into her voice. "Really, I'm fine. Thank you for the offer though." She starts to move towards the tree again only to feel something sharp and cold pressed against her neck making her go rigid.

"Oh, sweetie." The woman sighs. She snaps her fingers. "It wasn't an offer."

A wave of realization washes over the girl and almost as if it's instinct, she doesn't wait any longer and so she finally decides to duck away from both the blade and the woman and start running.

Everything is a blur and the girl knows that she's not running at the normal pace a human should be running at, but at this point she could honestly care less.

She's only been running for a few seconds when her head starts to throb. The pain is bearable at first, but the longer the girl runs the worst the pain gets. She twists her body to the side sharply, narrowly avoiding hitting a tree head on, before continuing down the unmarked path she's decided to head down. She doesn't know if the woman is following her and she'd rather not look back to find out. Just moving forward was becoming a difficult task and her strange, sudden headache wasn't helping her in the slightest.

Suddenly, something whizzes by the girl, cutting her right arm slightly, before hitting one of the trees ahead with a thud.

The girl glances at the object quickly, spotting a black dagger with a handle wrapped in bandages and a small ring attached to the end of it. At the end of it is a paper attached that is slowly catching fire.

She clutches her head in pain as a sudden barrage of images and voices cloud her mind.

:: :: ::

 _A man with a scar across his nose clears his throat and holds up a black dagger. "This here is called a kunai knife which can be used as either a defensive or offensive weapon" He then holds up a piece of paper. "And this is called a paper bomb. It-"_

 _"Paper bomb?" Blurts a blonde-haired boy as he shoots up out of his seat. "That means it explodes right? Blow it up so we can see, y'know!"_

 _"Yeah!" Agrees a dark-haired boy as he also jumps out of his seat, the puppy atop his head barking in agreement. "Blow it up!"_

 _The man's eye twitches as the two continue blabbering. "Quiet!" He yells, causing the two boys to freeze. He sighs. "If you guys would have listened, you would've heard me about to tell you that it has the power to destroy this entire room and that in order for me to show you how it works we would need to go outside, but SOME PEOPLE decided to interrupt." He says glaring at the blond-haired boy with three whisker- like marks on each of his cheeks and the black-haired boy with a single red fang- like mark on each of his cheeks, respectively._

 _The two boys look at each other and snicker as they return to their seats._

 _The man sighs again. "Anyway, in order to-"_

:: :: ::

The paper bomb glows and then explodes, sending the girl tumbling through thickets of shrubs in the opposite direction of the explosion. Her back hits a tree, effectively stopping her, but also causing her to double over in another round of pain- one that was more physical than mental.

:: :: ::

 _A black-haired boy narrows his eyes and throws two kunai knives towards each of the two trees on both the left and right behind the man standing in front of him, taking in consideration of the large boulder directly behind said man._

 _"Missed." The man cackles, pulling his own set of kunai knives out. "Didn't they teach anything to you kids back in the academy?"_

 _The boy smirks and quickly pulls the wires in his hands, that are attached to the two kunai knives, and traps the enemy against the rock with the wires. "Didn't they teach you to never underestimate your opponent?"_

:: :: ::

The girl clutches her head in pain as more images continue flooding her head. Only one thing makes even a shred of sense in that moment. That the images and voices were memories. They had to be.

"You know, it would've been easier had you just listened to me, dear." Laughs the woman. "I will admit I was at first a bit surprised when you up and ran away from me. I wasn't expected you to be so bold." She notes, pointing towards the girl. She waves her hand to the side in a bored manner. "But you don't seem to emit any levels worth acknowledging which makes this a whole lot easier." She smirks, nodding her head in the girl's direction. "Get her."

The girl peeks up from between her arms just as a man dressed in similar clothing to the woman- but with a loose, swaying black cloth covering the lower part of his face- jumps down from his perch on a branch and makes his way towards her, kunai knife in his hand. She covers her face again, both from the pain and from the man, even though she knows that it won't do much to help her. She starts pushing herself back with her feet in a desperate attempt to distance herself from the the approaching man only to come back-to-back with the tree she had crashed against. She further buries her face in her arms, the pain in her head still not subsiding completely but instead lessening to a dull and achy throbbing. "Stay away." She pleads, voice quavering, and tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Please."

She was going to die. She somehow knew that. No one ever said she was going to, and these people never really said they'd kill her, but she knew they didn't have kind intentions in mind either. She was going to die without even knowing why she was living in the first place. What a way to go out.

The woman smiles. "What was that?"

The man stops and crouches in front of her. "Get up." He says, eyes boring down on her. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

The girl watches as her tears fall to the ground. She could tell that the man was trying to sound nice… sort of. Knife, chasing, and bomb aside, if they had really wanted to kill her, wouldn't they have done so already? So, what were they waiting for?

She shuts her eyes and bites her lip in frustration, further burrowing her head in her arms, her left hand reaching over and pressing against her right upper arm. She presses her hand around the area tighter as the warm liquid seeps between her fingers. She almost forgot that her arm was bleeding. Almost.

"The faster the better, Katashi!" Barks the woman, clearly fed up. "The price will already go down with that wound you gave her, don't mess this up any further!"

Pain shoots through the left side of the girl's head at the name 'Katashi' and for a split second an image of a man with silver hair appears, but it disappears just as quick as it came. The pain, however, remains.

The man curses beneath his breath and narrows his eyes at the girl in annoyance. "I said, get up." He hisses, any hint of kindness in his voice now gone.

The girl just barely hears him through the searing pain bouncing around within her skull. She clenches her jaw, her hands now balled into fists and pressed against each side of her head.

The pain doesn't let up, and the woman continues yelling much to the man's irritation and so he starts reaching for the girl's wrist.

The girl shrinks further into herself. She just wants it all to stop. The pain, the people, all of it. And in that moment she doesn't care how.

And so she snaps.

"I said stay away!" She cries out, burying herself in her knees, her hands clenching her head in frustration, pain, and fear.

It all happens so fast. They don't have time to react properly and by the time they realize what has happened, it's already far too late to do anything.

And the girl? She has no idea of what she's done. At least, not until she hears them screaming, telling her to stop, begging her to even. That's when she decides to glance up, to spare a hesitant look from beneath her arms.

She regrets it almost immediately.

A large wall of earth, having been ripped up out of the ground, pushes forward and destroys anything and everything in its path.

From her position, she only sees the flat side of the wall- save for all the plant roots and other organisms sticking out of it. She doesn't see the deadly spikes on the other side piercing almost everything that comes into contact with it.

The girl turns her head around frantically, searching for whoever had done it, but she spots no one else in sight.

"H- how?" Sputters the woman's voice.

The girl flinches and searches around for where the woman's voice is coming from. She spots her in the distance, face down in the dirt, and blood dripping down her forehead. "How… how what?" The girl asks hesitantly, but she doesn't move. She's terrified. Terrified because she was going to witness someone die right before her eyes. Despite them attempting, and partially succeeding, in harming her, she wouldn't wish death upon them. Maybe a punishment, but death? Not a chance.

"You barely had any chakra before!" The woman shouts as she lifts her head off the ground, blood dripping down her chin. "We detected almost nothing until now and then you go and pull a jutsu like that?! Completely wiping us out?!" The woman starts coughing up heaps off blood much to the girl's horror who covers her own mouth and looks away to keep from gagging just as her head in sent into another wave of pain, various new memories rushing through.

:: :: ::

 _The two components of chakra: physical energy and spiritual energy._

…..

 _Chakra has become a form of life energy that all individuals produce to some degree, meaning that those who run out of chakra will die._

…..

 _It's produced within the "chakra coils" that mainly surround and connect to each chakra-producing organ, the energy circulates throughout the body in a network called the "Chakra Pathway System", which is similar to the cardiovascular system._

…..

 _Certain groups, such as shinobi, have learned to generate more chakra and release it outside their bodies through pressure points called tenketsu in order to perform jutsu._

…..

 _Chakra is created when two other forms of energy, known collectively as one's stamina, are moulded together. Physical energy is collected from each and every one of the body's cells and can be increased through training, stimulants, and exercise. Spiritual energy is derived from the mind's consciousness and can be increased through studying, meditation, and experience._

:: :: ::

The girl clutches her head tightly as the pain continues.

:: :: ::

 _Jutsu are the mystical arts that a ninja may utilize in battle._

…..

 _To use a technique, the ninja will need to use their chakra._

…..

 _To perform a technique, the ninja will bring out and release the two energies of chakra._

…..

 _There are three basic types of techniques: ninjutsu,genjutsu and taijutsu._

:: :: ::

The woman tries and fails to lift herself up, settling with the notion to just turn over onto her back as she stares blankly up at the darkening sky. "And here… here we thought you were just… a regular civilian." Mutters the woman, out of breath from just flipping her self over. She starts chuckling to herself.

The girl tenses and stares up at the woman in shock, the pain in her head, while not completely subsiding, becoming the least of her worries with this new implication. "Are you implying that… that I did this… ?" She murmurs, eyes widened in disbelief.

The woman begins laughing hysterically. "Do you need me to make it more obvious?!" She cackles, coughing up another heap of blood shortly afterwards. She gestures to her own blood on the ground. "Well, I suppose that helps answer your question."

The sudden realization hits her and the girl gags and doubles over, emptying whatever contents she has in her stomach, which isn't that much to begin with. She covers her mouth to keep from throwing up again and glances back at the woman, her eyes wide with panic. "You're lying!" Her throat is raw and dry as she speaks, the words leaving her lips coming out in hoarse rasps. "You have to be… there's no way I did this… I don't even know how to… " She says, sparing another glance at the carnage around her. "And even if I did, I'd never… I'd never do this… " One hand clenches the dirt beneath her fingers and the other is pressed against the girl's forehead as her eyes are now on the ground, widened in both disbelief and fear. "You're lying… you have to be."

The woman only stares at her, her eyebrows knitting together as she begins to realize what's happening. But she says nothing concerning it though. "Do you see anyone else around you?" She asks in a surprisingly gentle voice, turning her head back upwards. Why would she say anything, anyway? There wasn't anything she could do even if she wanted to. "I mean, besides you, everyone else… everyone else is dead." She blinks slowly and stares up at the sky that looks a little too bright in her eyes. She knows why. "And it seems… that I'll be joining them too… "

The girl watches in horror as the woman's eyes flutter close and her head falls to the side slowly. She leans back against the tree trunk harshly and buries her head in her hands, one hand pressed against her chest as her breathing becomes ragged. "No- this… this isn't happening- this isn't real- " She chokes out, fresh tears streaking her cheeks. "Make it stop… just make it all stop… it's not real… "

She doesn't hear the pair of footsteps heading towards her slowly, nor does she feel their presence. Even when the pair stops and checks the surrounding mess before walking again, she's too deep in her mental breakdown to notice. She only notices when their voice calls out to her. "Hey, are… are you okay?"

Her head snaps up in fear and she instinctively backs herself further against the tree, shielding herself with her arms.

"No, I'm not going to hurt you!" They reassure, kneeling down in front of her. They try and peek at the girls face to get a better look at her condition only to move back and sit patiently. "I promise I won't hurt you." They reiterate, taking notice of the blood covering one of her raised hands. "And I don't break promises."

The girl opens her eyes and stares down at the ground, hesitantly looking upwards towards the voice who was, for some reason, being so kind to her despite them both being surrounded by corpses that apparently she was responsible for.

She blinks away the cloudiness in her eyes and stares up at the boy's watching her with a concerned look on his face. The pain in her head, having become a dull feeling at the moment, slowly gets stronger as she notices the bright orange clothing on him, the blonde hair atop his head, and his blue, curious eyes. When she finally sees the three whisker-like marks on each of his cheeks, she cries out as her head erupts in a new wave of pain, one that's far stronger than the previous ones.

:: :: ::

 _A boy dressed in an orange jumpsuit grins proudly. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Ramen Shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup." He chuckles, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to become the greatest Hokage!" He says, pointing behind him towards the massive stone wall with four faces carved into it. "That way the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody." He points his thumb to his chest. "Somebody important!"_

…..

 _"I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word! That's my nindo: my ninja way!"_

…..

 _Naruto slams his hand down on the desk. "Don't underestimate me! I don't quit and I don't run!" He points at the large, burly man covered in scars at the front of the room. "You can act tough all you want! You're not gonna scare me off! No way!" He then slams both hands on the desk. "I don't care if I DO get stuck as a genin for the rest of my life! I'll still be Hokage someday!"_

:: :: ::

The boy leans forward, panicked as the girl clutches her head in pain. "Hey, what happened? Did you hit your head or something?"

:: :: ::

 _Red chakra._

…..

 _An old man closes his eyes and lets out a drag from his pipe. "He holds the spirit of the nine tailed fox within him."_

…..

 _A little boy pulls his friends away from the playground where a small blonde haired boy sits on the swing. "Get away from him!" He warns his friends. "He's the demon kid my mom told me about!"_

…..

 _The young boy stares up at the old man, a clear sadness in his eyes. "Why don't I have a mom and dad?" He asks._

:: :: ::

Another pair of footsteps approaches the two, these in a much more rapid pace. "Naruto, what did I say about running off like that?! We're supposed to be heading back to the village!"

Naruto only points down at the girl. "Uh, pervy sage?"

The girl cries out again as her head erupts in another wave of pain.

:: :: ::

 _A man with spiky white hair, red lines under his eyes, and a large scroll carried against his back…_

…..

 _"Yo! I'm Jiraiya! You can send me the love letter later!" He says winking at his teammate._

…..

 _His teammate clenches her fist before punching him and sending him flying across the clearing. "No way you perv!"_

…..

 _"When people get hurt, they learn to hate… when people hurt others, they become hated and racked with guilt. But knowing that pain allows people to be kind. Pain allows people to grow… and how you grow is up to you." He says, smiling at the boy beside him._

…..

 _"I'm not a pervert… I'm a super pervert!" He says grinning._

…..

 _"The most important thing for a shinobi is the spirit and the will to never give up!"_

:: :: ::

"Make it stop!" She screams, pulling at her hair, the hot tears in her eyes having spilled over and already replaced with new ones. The memories continue flooding through her head one after the other, sharp stabs off pain accompanying each one. She glances up at the newcomer hesitantly and immediately wishes she hadn't as the pain gets worse. It felt like her head would split in half if it went on any longer. Sure, she wanted her memories back, but at what cost? Anymore of it and she knew she'd likely get permanent brain damage before ever learning the truth.

And then suddenly she becomes light-headed. Everything is spinning and the two people in front of her start merging into one somehow and she knows that it's not possible. But the pain finally leaving her body as she falls unconscious tells her otherwise and she welcomes the relief that's replacing the pain. She's grateful for it really, even when her line of vision slowly slips into darkness.

::

Jiraiya watches as the girl falls to the side and passes out, the boy catching her and laying her down carefully before she hits the ground. He narrows his eyes and takes another look around him, not missing the countless number of lifeless bodies strung about the area. He turns back and crosses his arms at the blonde- haired boy. "Naruto, what happened?"

Naruto turns around and waves his hands in front of him defensively. "It wasn't me, I swear!" His gaze drops to the ground. "I just- I got here and she was crying." He doesn't mention the bodies, knowing already that Jiraiya is well aware of them. "When I asked her if she was okay, she just looked at me and then started clutching her head like she was in pain."

Jiraiya nods his head, stroking his chin in thought. "She reacted the same way when she saw me, right?"

Naruto glances up thought. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure." He turns back to Jiraiya. "Why do you think happened? I mean… look at this place... " He says gesturing to the large dirt wall in the distance, the destroyed landscape, and the bodies. He turns back to the girl with concern and then down at his hand that's now coated with her blood- from when he helped her down- before pulling out a clean cloth and wrapping her injured arm with it. He turns back to Jiraiya, waiting for his response.

Jiraiya doesn't reply. He only bites his thumb and thrusts his palm onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appears and soon clears to reveal a large orange toad.

The toad waves his webbed- hand and smiles. "Hey! What's up guys?" He says.

Naruto blinks. "Gamakichi?!" He shrieks. "You've gotten so huge!"

The toad laughs. "So have you Naruto! I almost didn't recognize ya!"

Jiraiya furrows his brows in annoyance. "Alright." He says in a strict tone. "Enough Chit-Chat. This isn't the time or place for a reunion." He turns to the toad. "Now, Gamakichi, I need you to help carry the girl over there until we get to the next town over. We need some answers and I think it'd be better if we didn't stay in this area." He says, sparing another glance around before walking ahead towards the path they had originally come from.

Gamakichi nods his head. "Got it boss." He says hoisting the unconscious girl up on his back and following after.

Naruto pushes himself up and follows after, quickly jogging up to Jiraiya's side before returning to a normal pace. "Wait, so she's coming with us?" He asks.

"Well, we can't just leave her here with all these dead bodies." Gamakichi replies, having taken in the surrounding mess.

Jiraiya sighs. "That's one reason... " He doesn't miss the gaped mouth of the body to his right and the way the eyed are widened in shock, but he doesn't comment on it. Instead, he looks ahead and puts on his best smile. "Anyway, let's go! The sooner we move, the sooner we get back the village!" He cheers. "Those three years sure flew by quickly didn't they?"

* * *

First chapter done!

For re-readers- if there are any- yes, this is edited. Yes, there are some changes. Yes, it is longer. WAY longer. And yes, the story did get a bit more… uh… darker? I just starting rewriting everything and the next thing I knew the story took a turn for the darker side, y'know. *shrugs shoulders* Oh well.

Also, sorry if the characters are a bit OOC. I try my best to make sure they act the way they are, if that makes sense, but I can mess up so I apologize if they act out of character. The only character I can make sure isn't out of character is my own OC, but even then I'll probably somehow mess up so badly that even she seems out of character. Tell me if something doesn't seem right and I'll try and correct it.

Oh, and yes, the story takes place after the approximate three year gap in Naruto, so basically right at the start of Shippuden!

Other than that,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2: Your Name

_Three shadowy figures stare down at their target from their positions hidden within the leaves of different trees. They glance at each other and nod their heads, leaping out of shadows._

 _Their target glances back quickly and spotting the three heading for them, the target flees the scene quickly._

 _The three pursuers give chase, dodging the civilians, buildings, and any other objects in their way as their target maneuvers around swiftly ahead of them._

 _One of the pursuers accidently crashes into a ramen cook just as he's about to capture his target, but quickly recovers and keeps moving forward as he calls back a quick apology._

 _"Naruto!" Yells the ramen cook in a fit of annoyance and rage._

 _The pursuer glances back and smiles._

 _The ramen cook blinks. "Oh, it's you Konohamaru." He realizes, having mistaken him for someone else. He scratches the back of his head before gathering his fallen supplies. "Right, Naruto is still on his trip."_

 _Konohamaru continues running forward, pressing his hand against his ear as static sounds through his wireless headset._

 _"Konohamaru, the target is cornered. Where are you?"_

 _"On my way, Moegi." He replies, leaping onto a rooftop. "I got a little caught up, but- " He jumps down and into a small alleyway, landing beside both of his teammates. "I'm here now." Konohamaru smirks as the cat turns it's head swiftly, searching for an escape. "Nowhere to go now, huh?" He lunges and grabs the target. "You're mine!"_

…..

 _Madam Shijimi hugs her struggling cat tightly. "My precious little Tora, I was worried to death about you! Where have you been you naughty kitty?"_

 _Konohamaru rolls his eyes at her antics. "If that old windbag was my master, I'd probably run for the hills too." He quips._

 _His sensei, Ebisu, shoots him a pointed look. "Quiet, Konohamaru."_

 _"Alright, here's your fee!" Madam Shijimi says, handing them their pay, completely missing Konohamaru's previous remark. "Come on, Tora! Time to go home!" She smiles, leaving with the still struggling Tora held tightly in her arms._

 _Just as the door shuts, Ebisu looks at his genin sternly. "It was a simple case of a lost cat, do you know how long you've been out there?"_

 _"But sensei, that cat was faster than lighting." Says Udon._

 _"Yeah, it was almost like it had run off before." Adds Moegi._

 _"I don't want to hear it " Scolds Ebisu. "A mission of this delicate nature requires speed and precision which you three are sorely lacking in." He points at the three of them. "You need more training."_

 _Konohamaru groans. "Well, how do you expect me to push my limits on a lame old mission like this one." He argues. He turns towards the people at the front of the room. "Hey, Iruka Sensei! Don't you have anything flashier for me?"_

 _Iruka sighs. Konohamaru was starting to remind him of someone. "Look, it's not that simple." He says, trying to reason with him peacefully._

 _Ebisu crossed his arms. "Listen carefully." He says to his three students. "You three school runts only just made genin level. No one if going to assign you higher rank missions right out if the gates."_

 _"All you'll be getting is D- rank missions for now." Tsunade clarifies with a sigh._

 _"I'm not taking no for an answer." Huffs Konohamaru. He points his thumb to his chest. "After all, you're looking at the seventh hokage." He smirks._

 _Tsunade raises an eyebrow. "The seventh? What about the sixth hokage?"_

 _"That spot is taken." He says proudly. "Naruto is going to get it."_

…..

 _After a while, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon finally exit the hokage tower._

 _Udon stares ahead in thought. "Speaking of Naruto… "_

 _"I wonder where he even is right now." Muses Moegi as she completes Udon's sentence._

 _Konohamaru smiles and stares up at the sky. "I bet when he comes back he'll become an awesome shinobi. I believe in him one hundred percent."_

…..

 _Kotetsu and Izumo stare in awe as two people walk through the Hidden Leaf gates._

 _"Hey now, is that who I think it is?" Asks Kotetsu._

 _"Uh huh." Replies Izumo. "No doubt about it."_

…..

 _"Hey, Sakura!" Calls Konohamaru as he spots the pink- haired kunoichi in the distance._

 _Sakura stops and turns back towards the voice calling out to her. "Oh. Hi, Konohamaru." She smiles, spotting him and his team heading towards her._

 _"So, where you off to?" He asks._

 _"The main gate. I have to pick up this morning's pedestrian traffic leisure for Lady Tsunade." She says. "Do you want to come along?"_

…..

 _He glances around the village, a small smile forming on his face. "It's been about two and a half years." He says._

 _Beside him, his godfather chuckles. "So it has."_

…..

 _"Have you gotten word or anything from Naruto?" Konohamaru asks, trying to hide the eagerness in his voice._

 _Sakura shakes her head. "Nothing yet."_

 _He kicks the dirt beneath his feet. "That's too bad."_

 _"But he should be popping up around here pretty soon… " She adds, a hopeful smile on her face._

 _They finally reach the main gate and Sakura waves at the two sitting guard at the main post "Hey, Izumo. Hey, Kotetsu. How are you today?" She asks them._

 _Kotetsu smirks. "Well, look who's here " He jests._

 _Sakura blinks at him in confusion. "Huh?"_

 _He nods his head back towards the village. "Something's waiting for you back in town."_

 _"Yeah, and you gotta see it to believe it." Izumo adds._

 _Konohamaru stares at the two of them, also confused. "What are you guys talking about?"_

 _Sakura's eyes widen as the meaning behind their words finally sink in. She looks back at the village. "No way… "_

…..

 _Naruto climbs a large pole and stands atop it, looking out over the village._

 _Jiraiya shakes his head and chuckles from back down below. "Always rambunctious."_

 _"Now this takes me back! The village hasn't changed a bit!" He says with a grin. He pumps his fist in the air. "I'm home everyone! Naruto Uzumaki has returned to the Hidden Leaf Village!"_

:: :: ::

She wakes up to a dark room and the first thing she hears is someone snoring. Rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes, she sits up and takes a look around. Though it's dark, she's still able to spot a door at the front of the room and two beds to her left, one of them being occupied.

Curious, she leans over and blinks in surprise when she sees the boy from before- Naruto, as she remembers. She sits back quietly and stares down at the wrinkled blanket beneath her fingers.

She doesn't remember how she got into the room exactly, but she remembers passing out in the forest. Remembering that Naruto and the man now known to her as Jiraiya being there, she concludes that it was likely them that brought her here.

She lays back down and throws her right forearm over her eyes, wincing slightly as something tightens against her upper arm. She raises her hand up and stares at the bandage wrapped around the wound from earlier. She throws her hand back down over her eyes, refusing to remember how she got that wound in the first place.

Eyes closed, she thinks back to her dream. Or were they memories? She didn't know yet, but she knew that she saw familiar faces like Naruto's and Jiraiya's, but also people she didn't remember meeting but feeling as though she knew them somehow.

She sighs, gets up, and starts walking towards the door when it suddenly opens revealing Jiraiya on the other side.

"Oh, you're up?" He says, wiping his hair dry with a towel.

"I, yeah." She replies, stepping back. She knows she shouldn't worry about it since he helped her, but based off her memories she knows that he's the one who declares himself a 'super pervert' and frankly, that makes her a bit uncomfortable. But she also knew that he possessed almost immeasurable strength as well, which she didn't know yet if she would count as a good thing or a bad thing. "Um, what am I doing here?" She asks, glancing up at him slightly.

Jiraiya pauses for a second before he continues drying his hair. "You know I had expected you to be freaking out, but you seem to be surprisingly calm." He says, dodging her question all together. He spares a wary glance at her. "Is something wrong?"

The girl stares at him in confusion and looks down at the ground in thought. She could tell he was avoiding something, but not knowing what she only stares back up at him with another question on her mind. "Where am I?" She asks.

Jiraiya watches her carefully, before scratching the back of his head and laughing sheepishly "Oh, right! Yeah, probably a little weird to wake up only to find complete strangers around you, huh?" He says, finally walking in from the hallway and shutting the door behind him. "I would've gotten you your own room, but seeing as how you passed out earlier I didn't think leaving you on your own in that condition would be a good idea so someone had to watch you, but leaving a huge toad in your room probably would've freaked you out even more than people, huh?" He says, hanging the damp towel up to dry by the window on the other side of the room.

The girl chuckles quietly. "Probably." She wonders how large of a toad he was talking about, but doesn't ask as she starts to remember that he's able to summon toads meaning that he was probably referring to one of those.

Jiraiya moves over to his bed on the far side of the room and sits down. "So, bad dream?" He asks, laying back against the wall behind him and crossing his arms.

The girl blinks. She never mentioned anything about a dream, so how did he…

"Ah, so it was a bad dream." He notes, not missing the way she had blinked in surprise when he first brought it up.

The girl narrows her eyes slightly. He read her too easily. She also didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but it was unsettling either way. Was that the capability of a ninja? To be able to read people so easily like that?

She thinks back. And was what she saw just before she woke up really just a dream? Or was it maybe another memory? She didn't feel any pain like before- which she wasn't really complaining about- but she was still confused about whether or not it was a dream or a memory.

She rubs her unwounded arm and stares down towards the ground, her eyes trailing over each of the crevices in the floorboards. "Something like that, I guess." She finally says. His words from before cause her to furrow her brow in confusion. He referred to himself as a stranger… but then those memories… were they really memories then? She remembers that there were a few memories of him when he was a child and he looked to be way older than her- not like she knew how she looked anyway, but she didn't know if it would make sense if she said she felt young either- but then wouldn't that mean that… she had memories of someone's life that she was never even present for?

The girl turns towards Jiraiya, her eyes scanning his carefully. "Your name is Jiraiya, right?" She asks, waiting for his reaction. Would he say 'of course it is, don't pretend like you don't know' like she'd expect someone she previously knew to, or would be just answer with a simple 'yes' as if they never knew each other to begin with?

Jiraiya grins. "Oh, so you've heard of me!" He laughs jumping up and whipping his hair. "The man who has no enemies in the North, South, East, and West... not even the Heavens! One of the Sannin... white haired frog tamer... " He throws his hair back, one hand, palm front, and facing her. "Jiraiya!" He pauses and stands up straight, his hand placed beneath his chin and he grins. "I also happen to be a very famous author."

She blinks. So it was neither of her predictions. Not even remotely close. But she wasn't that surprised, surprisingly.

Naruto groans and throws a pillow at him, successfully hitting him in the face despite still being asleep. "Not so loud… " He mutters, rolling over to the other side.

The girl laughs quietly. "Maybe you shouldn't say that so loudly." She whispers, covering her mouth to keep from laughing any more.

Jiraiya chuckles and plops back down on his bed, arms crossed. "It'd take more than that to wake this kid up."

She smiles and walks back over to her bed, sitting down and staring out of the window. She didn't even know why she got up in the first place. She just… did it. And now with her answer, she knows that Naruto and Jiraiya don't know her as much as she previously thought. Or maybe even at all. But then… how did she know them? Which brings up the question, how old was she really? She didn't feel old, but if she had memories of days where Jiraiya was a kid then would that mean she was as old as him?

"Something bothering you?" Wonders Jiraiya, who was watching the girl from his place quietly. He didn't know who she was yet, but she didn't seem to be too much of a threat. Well, towards them at least. He couldn't say the same for those slaughtered rogue ninja. The question was, did she do it in an act of self defense or an act of plain murder? From any perspective, it seemed more like self defense, but from his perspective he'd have to evaluate every possibility. Just in case.

She snaps out of her thoughts and glances at him, her eyebrows knitting together. "Um, Jiraiya?"

Jiraiya watches her carefully. "Yeah?"

"This will sound like a weird question, but… " She rubs her arm again and stares up at the ceiling, before turning back to him, her eyes gazing at him curiously. "How old do I look to you?"

He blinks. "I, uh… what?" He was utterly confused and at a loss. Of all the things he was expecting her to say, that was not one of them. That was definitely not one of them. Was she pulling a joke on him? She didn't look like she was and that only baffled him more.

"I- I don't know." He finally replies, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "I guess around the same age as Naruto? Why?"

The girl nods her head and stares out of the window again. She already knew that Naruto was around sixteen years old, so that would put her around the same age meaning that either those memories were never really memories or… she was somehow not aging and was probably immortal or something, but she doubted it. That was impossible, wasn't it?

Jiraiya narrows his eyes in suspicion. He doesn't yet understand her or her motives, but he was already wary of how perceptive she was. Yes, he was impressed, but she wasn't exactly on their side so that perceptiveness could end up being used against them and becoming their downfall. For that not to happen, he'd just have to… get rid of her. Or to put it lightly, take her back to where she came from. It would be a deteor from their original path, but she was injured and she was still a child after all. A deadly child, but she didn't seem so much of a threat now.

And that was all he needed to make up his mind.

He sighs and lays down, pulling his blanket up to his shoulders and closing his eyes. "Ok, rest up, kid." He calls out to her. "We have a big day tomorrow."

She turns towards him confused, furrowing her brows when she sees him already on his side and ready to sleep. "What do you mean 'big day'?"

"Well, we have to get you home, right?" He says, peeking one eye open.

Her eyes widen then narrow and dart off to the corners of the room. "Right, right. My home… " She didn't know where her home was. She didn't even know who she was. But she wasn't going to tell him that. Or at least, she'd try to avoid telling him if she could.

Jiraiya watches her carefully. Her reaction to his statement was… strange, to say the least. Didn't she want to go home? Or was she avoiding something there?

"Don't you want to go back?" He decides to ask her.

She turns to him quickly and waves her hands in front of her sheepishly. "Of course." She lies, forcing a smile. "Why wouldn't I want to go back home?" Because she didn't know where the heck it was. Or who to even go to if she ever got there.

Jiraiya narrows his eyes, but decides to shrug it off. It wasn't his business anyway. His priority was Naruto and getting him back to the village before the Akatsuki made their move. He'd only take the girl home back to her village or town or whatever and her people would take it from there. He had more important things to settle.

"Alright, then. Rest up for tomorrow." He tells her, closing his eyes.

She lets out a small, barely- audible sigh of relief. Even though she has just woken up, she decides to try at another chance of rest.

She'd avoid the subject of home for as long as she could until she could come up with an excuse. Why further trouble them with something that doesn't even concern them?

:: ::

A pale skinned man with deep wrinkles adorning his face. A ripple- like pattern that spreads over both of his purple colored eyes.

"Yasuko Mori, that is your name."

:: ::

Jiraiya adjusts the scroll across his back and smiles at the two teenagers standing in front of him. "Alright, everyone ready?"

"Let's go!" Shouts Naruto, pulling his fist into the air.

Yasuko smiles softly. "Ready." She says, hands clasped behind her back. She didn't have a pack or scroll like the two of them and it felt vaguely… odd to her for some reason. Like there should've been one pressed against her back. But she didn't remember waking up in the forest with a bag anywhere around her, so… was she imagining it?

She shakes her head. It wasn't time to worry about superficial things such as that. She needed to think about her excuse for not knowing where her home was. She could tell them that the town they were in was her home or she could point in a random direction and the first place they came across could be her home, but both would end up not working in her favor because she had no idea where she was or where or what anything was and she'd probably die within a week if she suggested either path. She was at a complete and utter loss. And she was actually lost too.

Jiraiya glances behind him towards Yasuko. "So, where is your home located?" He asks her, watching as her eyes dart around the area quickly.

Yasuko freezes and scratches the back of her head nervously as she avoids eye contact with either of them, to Jiraiya's notice. "About that… I- "

"Pervy sage said it would be a good idea if we walked you home in case you passed out again." Interrupts Naruto, much to Yasuko's relief.

Jiraiya eyes quickly dart towards Naruto in annoyance. "What did I say about calling me that?" He turns back to Yasuko apologetically. "He's just joking about the name, don't worry about that part."

"Nope, he's a perv. A super perv actually." He slides up to Yasuko's side. "I say keep your distance." He whispers to her. He then walks off while whistling nonchalantly.

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitches. "What did you tell her?" He demands. He still had a reputation to uphold and he wasn't going to let his blonde blabbermouth of a student ruin that for him.

Naruto snickers. "Oh, nothing."

"Why you- tell me!"

Yasuko watches the two silently and smiles wistfully. She did feel bad for not telling them the truth, but she'd rather not further complicate things with what she already knew about them. They're plate was full enough as it was already based off what she had seen.

Just then, almost as if on cue, her stomach growls. Loudly.

Naruto and Jiraiya stop their bickering and turn their heads towards her slowly.

"… yes?" Yasuko asks, heavily embarrassed. Now that she was thinking about it, she can't remember when was the last time she ate, but to be fair she doesn't really remember anything at all anyway.

She didn't bother trying to pick any berries or anything back at the forest, because she didn't want to risk getting poisoned and she didn't have the means or equipment to hunt for food. So, instead she only wandered around hoping to stumble upon some sort of shop or something, hoping they'd be kind enough to spare her a small quick meal in exchange for work. But she never got that far.

Jiraiya raises an eyebrow and laughs. "How about we get something to eat before we head off, huh?"

"Oooh, can we get ramen?" Requests Naruto eagerly.

::

An hour later, Jiraiya pays the bill and the three finally exit the ramen shop and start heading towards the roads that lead out of the town.

Jiraiya stares dejectedly into his wallet. "Every time we go for ramen my wallet somehow becomes empty." He turns and glares at Naruto. "I wonder why… " He grumbles in annoyance.

"Thank you for the food, Jiraiya." Says Yasuko. She rubs her left arm sheepishly. "But, uh, sorry I couldn't pay for my own meal." She was lost, broke, and barely had any memory of anything. How long was she going to stay like that exactly? She felt helpless and she didn't like it one bit, especially when she was burdening other people with her problems. She wanted to repay them in some way, but she didn't know how.

"No, no! Don't apologize! Really it's fine!" Affirms Jiraiya. "I was referring to the one who ordered seventeen bowls of ramen." He says, glaring again at Naruto.

Naruto shrugs his shoulders. "It's not as good as Ichiraku's, but I guess it'll do." He muses, completely missing the repeated remarks from Jiraiya.

A sharp pain suddenly flows through Yasuko's head at the word 'Ichiraku.' The pain isn't as bad as any of the previous few times, but it's enough to make her to stop walking.

:: :: ::

 _The ramen shop vendor, Teuchi, smiles at his regular blonde- haired customer. "Hey there, Naruto. What'll it be?"_

 _"Miso ramen with extra pork please!" Grins Naruto._

 _Teuchi chuckles and starts preparing his order. "You got it."_

 _Naruto waits patiently for his meal, humming and twirling his chopsticks between his fingers._

 _A brown- haired female worker walks out from the back of the store, a box of various produce items in her hands. "Hey, dad. I got the vegetables you… " She trails off and blinks at the blonde- haired boy sitting on the other side of the counter. "Naruto!" She beams, dropping the box onto the counter. "How are you doing?"_

 _"Hey, Ayame!" He smiles. "I'm great, what about you?"_

 _"I'm doing great!"_

…..

 _Naruto peeks over to his right quickly before setting his chopsticks down. "Hey, Iruka Sensei? Can I try on your forehead protector?" He asks, staring up at Iruka in anticipation._

 _Iruka stares down at him and smiles. "You know, if you really want to try one on, you should graduate and get one of your very own!" He says, beaming. "How's that sound?"_

 _Naruto crosses his arms and turns away. "I was gonna give it back, y'know… " He pouts._

 _Iruka only laughs._

:: :: ::

"Anyway, now that that's over, let's get you home." Says Jiraiya, turning around. "Just lead the… " He watches as Yasuko presses her palm against her forehead, her eyebrows scrunched together as if she's in pain. "Hey, are you alright?" He asks her, walking back towards her.

Yasuko steps back and waves her other hand in front of her. "Y- Yeah." She manages to say. "Yeah, I'm fine." She takes a deep breath in and let's it out slowly before hesitantly bringing her hand away from her head, trying not to press it back as the pain continues to echo within her head. She was causing them trouble yet again with something that didn't really even concern them. "Sorry." She mumbles quietly.

"Sorry for what?" Blurts Naruto, peeking at her from beneath her hovered hand.

She blinks in surprise at his sudden appearance in front of her before staring off towards the side. She doesn't respond. Firstly, she wasn't really even expecting either of them to hear her apologize since she said it so quietly, but she shouldn't be surprised seeing as how they're ninja and probably trained on detecting those sort of things. Forgetting to take that in consideration was a mistake on her part.

And secondly, even if she did end up telling him why she apologized, it would mean that she would have to tell them everything. As in EVERYTHING. So, she decides to avoid explaining why and giving them the truth that would surely rattle their already shaking world.

But Naruto is still waiting for an answer.

"Hello?" He calls waving his hand in front of her face to catch her attention. "You didn't answer my question, y'know."

She glances back at him hesitantly, but her eyes drift down towards the ground between them, avoiding his gaze. Maybe it was for the best that she told them the truth. They didn't seem all that untrustworthy anyway, not with the memories she had of them. Sure, they were a bit dangerous, but what kind of ninja wasn't? And they were far more trustworthy than the first people she had met so far so that was an added bonus. These two hadn't tried to harm her, but instead helped her. That was something she was grateful for.

And then she realized that maybe this was the way she could repay them. To tell them the truth. She didn't have a clue how they'd react, but if they had some sort of technique- or jutsu as she remembered they were referred as- to help her get her memory back, then maybe it would all work out.

"Hey, are you ignoring me?" Says Naruto, crossing his arms and leaning back on the heels of his feet. He wasn't upset really. He was more confused above all else. He just asked a simple question.

Jiraiya watches the two silently, not missing the way Yasuko's eyes would widen and narrow as they flitted across the ground nervously, even if they only moved by a small fraction. It was kind of one of his specialities to pick up on subtle things like that.

Yasuko swallows the lump in her suddenly dry throat. Maybe it would turn out as one of the worst decisions she'd make or maybe it would turn out as the best, but she knew she'd never know if she didn't try. She rubs the back of her neck with her left hand nervously. "I'm sorry for causing you both trouble." She says. "It's just... " A pause. She was starting to hesitate. She shuts her eyes and forces herself to continue, ignoring the pounding in her chest and the sweat beginning to form between her hand and neck. And it's telling to her to stop. To stop because she's making a mistake. "About my home… " And she almost gives into it. "I… don't exactly know where it is... " But she doesn't. She finally glances up at them, watching for their reactions.

Naruto blinks at her, because yes, he was waiting for an answer, but that was not the answer he was expecting. He doesn't even remember what he was expecting anymore. "… what?" He finally blurts, still blinking at her.

"I don't know where my home is." She repeats quietly, glancing down at the ground again. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I'm telling the truth. I've only been able to remember a few things, but the location of my home isn't one of them, unfortunately. I'm sorry." She glances up at the two of them before turning back towards the ground, dropping her hand. The small rocks beneath her feet were suddenly so much more interesting.

Jiraiya narrows his eyes slightly and walks over to the two. She didn't seem to be lying, but he wanted to be a hundred percent sure, if possible. "Look, you seem like you need a rest so we'll find a place to sit for a while and you can explain there, alright?" He offers.

Yasuko rubs her arm embarrassed. "Right, thanks." Maybe she had a chance. But all that was really clear to her was that causing trouble for people seemed to be a special ability she had. Who could've possibly thought?

::

The three stop and rest under the shade of a tree. A few moments pass in an awkward silence.

"So… " Drawls Naruto, breaking said silence and bringing attention to the elephant in the room- or rather the elephant in the clearing.

Jiraiya clears his throat. "So, you want to tell us what's going on, kid?" He furrows his brows at his own words as the realization finally hits him. "We never even asked for your name, did we?"

Yasuko stares up at the two as the image of the man from her dream pops into her head, his words echoing in her mind.

 _Yasuko Mori, that is your name._

She takes a deep breath as she pushes the memory away for now. "Right... well, my name is Yasuko." And she said it so easily. "Yasuko Mori." That was her name.

Jiraiya nods his head. "Well then, Yasuko?" He says. "You want to explain what's going on?" She didn't really have much of a choice either way, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He'd only hope that she would cooperate without complaint or resistance.

So maybe she was making a mistake. Or maybe she was making the right choice. She'd only know after she told them, wouldn't she. Their response would be her answer and she wouldn't receive that answer unless she finally spoke the truth to them. But she knew she'd have to be careful. Even the most dense could figure out that much. The information she had about them was enough that one could say that their very lives were in her hands. And it was kind of true.

She takes in a shaky breath. Plus, it wasn't like she could really do anything without her memories. Someone was bound to find out sooner or later. In this case, it was sooner. Much sooner. "What if I said that… that I had sensitive information on you and your village?" She says quietly, glancing up at them. "What would you do?"

Jiraiya's blood runs cold. He doesn't take any actions though, because even though he can tell that she's telling the truth about knowing such confidential information, he's perplexed as to why she'd come out and say it so easily.

Naruto on the other hand has already started throwing questions at her. "What do you mean 'information?'" He asks cautiously.

"It's… kind of hard to explain, but I want to make sure of something before I elaborate." Yasuko says, picking at the fabric of her pants. She furrows her brows and stares at each of them respectfully. "Do I… do I know you?"

Jiraiya chuckles. "You said you recognized me before, didn't you?" But his chuckle is mainly forced in order to make her comfortable enough to continue talking. It was a special tactic he used for the people he'd interrogate that cooperated without complaint. Something to ease their conscious. It was sort of a manipulative technique, but no one was really getting hurt so there wasn't much harm. Plus, he was nervous, so it was a nervous chuckle. "This isn't some kind of trick you're playing, is it?"

Yasuko's hands raise up in defense. "No! I swear it's not!" She reassures. She rubs the back of her neck nervously. "It just ties in with everything else I have to tell you, so I just want to make sure." She adds, gaze drifting off towards the side.

Naruto watches her quietly before smiling and pointing his thumb to his chest. "The name is Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf village, y'know!"

And a familiar tingle of pain makes it's way through Yasuko's head again.

:: :: ::

 _Two men stand atop a cliff overseeing the small village beneath them surrounded by trees._

 _The man with long, brown hair turns to his friend standing to his right. "What do you think we should name the village?" He asks._

 _His friend stares down at the village for a moment more, ignoring the way the wind blows leaves that obscures his view until one of those leaves hit him square in the face, somehow managing to get tangled in his long, unruly, black hair. He glares in annoyance at the now chuckling man beside him as he pulls the leaf away from his hair and face. Just as he's about to let it sail with the wind again, he notices the hole in the middle of the leaf and through it, he sees the village below him._

 _"The Village Hidden in the Leaves." The man muses._

 _The brown- haired man laughs. "So literal! We're literally located in the middle of the forest!"_

 _The black- haired man rolls his eyes. "Tch… it's not like you were coming up with anything anyway… " He retorts, finally letting go of the leaf._

 _A sudden wave of guilt washes over the brown- haired man and he drops his head dejectedly. "You're right… I'm such a failure."_

 _"Would you stop overreacting!"_

…..

 _"The Hokage Rock looks over the Hidden Leaf as a reminder of our great hokage's and how hard they worked to protect this village." Explains the man with the scar across his nose. "They're called the great stone faces."_

 _"Who are those hokages?" Asks a student, pointing up at the first two stone faces._

 _"Ah, those are the first hokage and the second hokage. The first hokage, Hashirama Senju, is the one who founded the Hidden Leaf village alongside his brother, Tobirama Senju, who was the second hokage." He explains proudly._

…..

 _A large, red being slashes the nearby buildings with its claws. It's numerous tails thrash about recklessly, crushing anything in its path._

 _"Impossible." Gasps a man, the forehead protector on his forehead reflecting the flames his comrades are trying so desperately to put out. "Is that… "_

 _"The nine- tailed fox." The old man standing behind him sighs, the pipe in his hand being replaced with a scroll. He pulls his outer robe off, revealing his shinobi attire underneath. "It seems the seal has broken."_

…..

 _The old man stares ahead unfazed at the man standing nervously in front of his desk. "Yes?" He calls out, already knowing what news that man has to inform him off._

 _He clears his throat, the news still seeming too surreal to him, as if it was just a bad dream he'd soon wake up from. "Sir, the Uchiha Clan… " The evidence said otherwise. "The clan has been massacred."_

 _The old man stares at the man for a few more moments in silence. "I see." He finally says with a quiet sigh._

…..

 _Rain pours down heavily on the ones below dressed in black cloth, the raindrops attempting to disguise their tears._

 _One man looks up slowly, the rain hitting his skin being but a meek reminder to the reality of this developing life of his. "Even the heavens shed tears." He says softly._

 _A ways to his side, a blonde- haired boy stares ahead at the gravestone remorsefully. "Old man third… "_

:: :: ::

Jiraiya knocks Naruto upside the head not a moment later in annoyance. "What did I say about screaming your name that loud?! You're breaking the first rule of stealth already!"

"Says the person screaming louder than I am!" Naruto retorts, rubbing the back of his now slightly wounded head.

Yasuko watches quietly as the two continue to bicker and waits for the pain in her head to dissipate.

"I am not screaming louder than you are!" Jiraiya replies in a voice that is clearly louder than Naruto's.

Naruto only comes back at him in an even louder tone. "Are to, ya perv!"

"What did I say about calling me that?!"

"You never even cared before, y'know!"

"Are you saying that I didn't constantly tell you to stop calling me that?!"

It was like watching two children argue, Yasuko realized. Neither of them would ever admit to being the wrong one, because they both wanted to be the one who was right. But she still waits for them to finish, hoping that it won't be long.

She was wrong. It had now somehow gotten to the topic of the perfect way to cook fish while out on a mission, much to her complete and utter confusion. She blinks at them twice, before sighing. "Um, excuse me." She finally says, causing the two to freeze.

Naruto and Jiraiya blink at each other, their previous situation having completely slipped their minds during their argument. They turn back slowly, mentally agreeing to finish their very serious, heated conversation at another time.

"You were saying." Says Jiraiya calmly, as if the entire verbal war between him and Naruto hadn't happened at all.

Naruto only crosses his arms and nods his head, going along with Jiraiya's plan to act as if the previous debacle hadn't just happened.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow slightly before shaking her head. She wouldn't get involved with whatever had just happened. She'd only tell them the truth and hope that whatever would happen afterwards would work in both of their favors. "Right." She says trying to focus back on what she had said before. She furrows her brows as their words finally register. "I guess I don't know you guys like I thought I did huh… " She muses absentmindedly. Then what were those memories she saw of them when she had first met them? Or were they even memories to begin with…

Jiraiya narrows his eyes, not failing to pick up on the implication of her words. "What do you mean "you don't know us like you thought you did?'" He asks warily. He had enough reason to be careful around her already with the range of her abilities that he had partially witnessed earlier, but with these new developments it only spelled even more trouble for all of them. By trying to avoid trouble, he ended up winding up with it sitting in front of him.

Yasuko glances up quickly in surprise, before turning away again. She shouldn't have said that outloud. Hadn't she learned her lesson the first time? It was too late to take it back now, but she'd have to make sure to not make that mistake again before she said something she'd regret.

But now she still had to explain.

* * *

Second chapter done!

These chapters are becoming way too long with my revisions… got any comments or suggestions or are you fine with them?

"Surprised, surprisingly." I am such a poet. Yeah, yeah, we know I'm lying. -_-

Anyway,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3: Discourse

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath through her nose, letting it out through her mouth slowly before staring up at the two, her resolve fixed and near unwavering. Near unwavering. Her eyes betray her and she avoids their faces as she starts talking. "Well, to put it into simpler terms, I've known exactly who both of you were since we first met. All about you." She says, staring at her hands now. "As for me, I… well, I don't really know who I am or anything like that. My memory is just… " She hesitates. "It's lost." She resists the urge to clench her hands. She didn't know if they were still listening and she's too afraid to look up, so instead she just continues talking. "All I have are these new memories that appear whenever I see something, or someone, that was once probably a part of my life. I'm not entirely sure on that part yet, but that's what it seems like. And every time that happens, my head just erupts in this excruciating pain which you both probably saw." She chuckles nervously, rubbing at the back of her neck quickly before dropping her hand again. "When I asked you if I knew you, I wasn't playing a trick." She furrows her brows. "But if I don't know you like you said, then I shouldn't have all of these memories of you both, should I?" She says, finally sparing a glance up.

They're both staring at her, silently taking it all in.

Yasuko looks back down at her hands. She still can't tell if she's made the right choice, but it was finally out there. It was almost like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Almost.

There was still this dreadful feeling settled deep in her chest and stomach that was telling her that she had made the wrong choice. That she should've just given them a fake location and said that that was her home, so that they could finally be back on their way. If these 'memories' served her right, then that would mean that they had just finished their three year training trip and were supposed to be heading back to their village. That is, until she had decided to intervene.

She clenches her hands tightly before sighing and letting them fall loosely beside her, forcing herself to put a smile on her face despite the mental confliction she was experiencing. "Nevermind, forget what I said. It's ridiculous really." She chuckles. "I know you're on your way back to your village, so I'll just find my home on my own, somehow." She stands up, avoiding their gazes. "I won't tell anyone of what I've told you, because I know what kind of consequences it could have." And then she smiles, a real smile. "Thank you for everything. I'm really grateful and I'd hate to trouble you anymore than I already have, so I think parting ways and I guess pretending this never happened might be best, don't you?" But she doesn't wait for either of them to respond. She instead turns and starts walking away, arms pressed against her stomach in an attempt to ease the weird, unsettling feeling still sitting there. She honestly didn't know which was the right choice anymore.

She's already about five yards/ four and half meters into her retreat and so far neither of them have made a move to stop her. She doesn't know how she feels about that and she's too afraid to look back and check for their reactions herself.

But she doesn't have to.

Jiraiya, who was trying to take in all of that information in properly, finally snaps out of his unusual daze and calls out to her. "Hold on." His brows are furrowed deeply as Yasuko's words filter through his mind. He certainly wasn't expecting any of this to happen, but, now that it had it, it only brought about more troubles for him to deal with. He had more questions than answers at this point and that irked him. He glances over to his right, studying Naruto's reaction, but he doesn't know what to make of it.

Naruto is only staring ahead towards Yasuko's retreating form quietly, because her situation kind of reminded him of someone he had met once when he was younger, back before he went on his training trip. Neither of them could remember who they were, but they both wanted to know. Reminded of the first person's fate, he finally says something. "Hey, wait!" He says, pushing himself up and heading towards her.

At this point, Yasuko has stopped walking, but she hasn't turned back. Her arms tighten around her abdomen and she sighs, but doesn't speak. She turns her head up just as Naruto moves in front of her.

"If what you just said is true, then you remember who Menma is right?" He asks her.

Yasuko blinks and furrows her brows as two faces come to mind, one clear and one blurred, accompanied by another small tingle of pain she tries her best to ignore. She can't make out the face of the latter, so she sticks with the former. "What about him?" She wonders, clenching her left wrist tightly as various amounts of new information regarding Menma come rushing through her head.

This doesn't go unnoticed by Naruto or Jiraiya.

Naruto shrugs his shoulders. "You kind of remind me of him." He replies softly. "Amnesia, kind, and not wanting to cause us trouble even though you aren't. You guys could pass off as the same person." He chuckles. "Well, except for the obvious differences." He adds, scratching the back of his head. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't want you to have to make the choice he made because of memories that you've lost." He didn't know why she killed those shinobi at the forest and he doesn't bring it up because Jiraiya specifically asked him not to, but if she started to feel guilty from just that he didn't know what she's end up doing or if she'd follow in the same footsteps of Menma. He didn't want to fail someone else too.

Jiraiya suddenly claps his hands, catching both of their attentions. He had finally made up his mind. "Alright, since you don't know where your home is, why don't you tag along with us until you get your memory back, huh?" He knew she wasn't lying about anything she had said, or at least she didn't show any signs that she was lying. He would just bring her back to the village, so that someone could delve into her mind and check for themself, because if she had really lost her memory like she said she had then there wasn't much information he could get out of her even if he tried. He stands up and walks away towards the path. "We'll talk more about this later, but for now we need to get back to the village as soon as possible." He continues walking, only stopping when he realizes that neither of them are following him. He glances back and crosses his arms. "What are you two doing? Let's go!"

"Oh, right!" Realizes Naruto, rushing ahead. He stops and glances back as Yasuko stays rooted in her place. "Hey, come on."

Yasuko looks from him and then towards Jiraiya. "Do you have someone there that can help me get my memory back?" She asks, remembering her original plan.

Jiraiya shrugs his shoulders. "We have a few people that could probably help, but we won't know if they can if we just sit here." He says matter of factly.

She realizes that he has a valid point. "I guess so." She says as she slowly follows after. It wasn't like she really had a choice anymore anyway, not with all the revelations she had spilled, but if they really could help her then what was there to lose? This was actually a good thing.

So why did she still have this unsettling feeling in her gut?

::

The three walk down the marked path quietly, the only sound being the gravel beneath their feet getting crush with every step they take, until finally Jiraiya breaks the silence. "So, Yasuko was it?" He says, sparing a quick glance behind him before looking back ahead.

"Yeah." She replies, glancing up towards him.

"Interesting name." He hums, furrowing his brow. "Do you know who gave it to you or is that memory gone too?" He asks, looking back at her.

"Thank you." Yasuko says in response to his first statement. She pauses and thinks back again, her eyes scrunching together in thought as she stares at the ground. "And not really, I guess." She mumbles, rubbing her left arm. She contemplates telling them, but she knows that they probably won't believe her even if she did which is saying something given her previous talk with them before they started walking again. "It's kind of hard to explain."

Jiraiya watches her for a few seconds before turning back to the front. "Try me." He says with a chuckle. "Besides, it's not like we have anything else to do, so we're all ears."

She blinks and stares up at them, before staring over at the trees to the side. "Well, if I'm being honest, I didn't really know my name until it came to me in a dream." She spares a quick, hesitant glance towards them, searching for a reaction, but with their faces turned forward she finds none and so her gaze lingers backs to the trees again and she continues. "An old man with purple- ringed eyes told me and I guess I just stuck with it since I didn't really have any memory of my real name anyway." She finishes, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess maybe it was a memory of my grandfather or something."

Jiraiya halts in his steps at her words and turns around. "Wait, did you just say 'purple- ringed eyes?'"

Yasuko skids to a stop right behind him, a sheepish chuckle escaping her lips. "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't believe me seeing as how far fetched it is." She says, glancing up at him.

Jiraiya pauses and rests his chin in his propped hand in thought. "It's more of a surprise than it is strange." He notes, glancing towards Yasuko who's watching him silently. He sighs and shrugs his shoulders, turning around and continuing walking down the path. "We'll talk more about it later."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow in confusion, but follows after anyway. "So… does that mean that you know my grandfather?" She wonders.

Jiraiya laughs. "Kid, if this is who I think it is then he's not your grandfather."

Her eyes linger off the side. She had hoped that maybe the man would have been a clue to her past, but Jiraiya's statement practically crushed all that hope. "Who is he then?" She asks, quietly.

Jiraiya glances back at her then at Naruto, before looking back up front. "I think it will tie into the discussion we'll have back in the village."

Yasuko clasps her hands in front of her tightly, but she doesn't give a response. Instead, she watches as swept up tree leaves dance in the wind while she continues walking after the two in silence.

Jiraiya glances behind him, giving a small smile when Yasuko turns her head from the right and meets his eyes not even a second afterwards, before turning back. A normal civilian wouldn't have noticed someone's gaze on them that quickly, but then again she wasn't exactly a normal civilian either. She also didn't wear a headband, so there was no indication if she was from a ninja village, but even that wouldn't have been enough because she could've either lost her headband or…

He shakes his head. He shouldn't be thinking that far, but his natural investigational instincts kick in whenever he's wary or suspicious of something. It couldn't be helped. It was who he is.

He glances back again and isn't that surprised that Yasuko's already watching him. "Are you tired?"

She shakes her head. "Not really."

Also not a surprise to him. If she was telling the truth and she really lost her memory, then she wouldn't remember being a ninja and already having the stamina built for treks such as these.

"We'll be walking until sundown then." He says. "Think you'll be able to make it until then?"

She doesn't reply immediately and instead looks up at the sky, raising her hand above her a second afterwards to shield herself from the sun shining directly above her, before glancing back down at him. "I think I'll be okay." She finally says.

Jiraiya nods his head and turns back, her reaction weighing heavily on his mind.

::

Yasuko stares ahead quietly. She didn't know how she knew that it would only be a couple more hours of walking just by looking up at the position of the sun and even now, a few minutes after the incident, she didn't realize she was even looking up until the sun's bright rays started burning her eyes before she finally raised her hand to shield her face.

She tries not to think too much of the incident, because either way she probably would've said to continue walking anyway. She didn't want to trouble them any further than she already had.

She watches as Naruto and Jiraiya start conversing and so she slows her place subtly, not wanting to hear anything that could cause her more headaches.

She misses the way Jiraiya spares quick glances back at her, because every time she does feel his gaze and looks towards him, he's already looking back ahead and she's left wondering if she even felt it in the first place. She wouldn't be surprised if she had. They were suspicious of her and she expected that. As long as it didn't create any more trouble and she could finally get her memory back, then she didn't mind.

She'd try to endure it for as long as she had to if it meant that everything would return back to normal. That's what she told herself at least.

::

Jiraiya stops in the middle of the road and walks to the left, cutting through the forest.

Naruto follows after, waving over a confused Yasuko after him. "Come on."

Yasuko further furrows her brows in confusion, but follows after regardless. "Why are we stopping?" She asks, glancing towards the sun's position in the sky which is still a ways away from setting.

Jiraiya stops in a small clearing and pulls a rolled-up sleeping bag from his pack. "To rest." He says, laying his bag on the ground.

She turns towards him, watching as Naruto follows suit in his actions, before she heads over and sits down beneath the canopy of a tree, legs crossed and eyes closed.

Jiraiya stops and narrows his eyes at her in confusion. "What are you doing?"

She opens her eyes and blinks at him. "Resting. Like you said." And then she closes her eyes again.

Jiraiya sighs and rummages through his pack, pulling out another sleeping bag and tossing it onto her lap. "Use this."

Yasuko glances down at the weight dropped into her lap and picks it up, staring at it for a few seconds in contemplation, before throwing it back. "Thank you for the offer, but I can't accept."

Jiraiya catches it, but immediately throws it back. "I hope you don't expect me to believe you're actually going to sleep on the ground."

Yasuko shrugs her shoulders, throwing the pack back at him. "I'd rather do that than burden you guys any further." She points at the pack being thrown back at her. "When did you even have the time to buy this?" She asks, catching it and throwing it back.

Naruto watches the two, a bored look on his face. "Back at the town." He says, watching the pack fly through the air. Two minutes pass and fed up, he gets up and grabs it while it's mid-air, laying it down on the ground beside the other two, before sitting back down. "You're going to get bugs all over it if you two keep doing that."

Yasuko blinks, realizing that where she's sitting could very well be the home of hundreds of insects and she immediately jumps up and heads over to her sleeping bag, plopping herself down as soon as she makes sure it's free from any bugs.

Jiraiya chuckles. "So, you're afraid of insects are you?"

Yasuko's cheeks burn with embarrassment and so she quickly crosses her arms and looks away. "I am not afraid of them. It's more of a wariness." She half-lies. "You never know which ones are poisonous." She wasn't necessarily scared of them, but she didn't like how they felt when they would crawl across her skin with their tiny legs. She had already suffered enough of that back when she had woken up on the forest floor. She tries not to shivers at the reminder.

Jiraiya chuckles again. He knows that she's just saying that to act tough. But he can also tell that it's different from when she told them about her memory loss. She didn't show any signs of lying then, but maybe she was acting like she didn't. Right now, though, he can see the signs easily and he can't tell if it's because she was letting him or if it was because she was never even lying before in the first place. Until now that is.

He sighs and crosses his legs, his chin resting atop his laced fingers, arms propped up by the elbows resting on each knee.

"Hey, Yasuko?" Naruto calls, staring up at the sky from atop his sleeping bag.

She glances over curiously. "Yeah?"

"You said you had memories of us, right?" He asks, glancing over at her.

Yasuko pauses and furrows her brows. "Well, I wouldn't really call them memories anymore." She says. "I guess they're more like visions now."

Naruto nods his head. It made sense. "Right, well, uh, " He turns his head back up towards the sky. "What kind of memories- er, visions did you have of us?"

"Well… " She pauses again and glances at Jiraiya, who's watching the two silently. Looking away, she shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know if I can really say them considering how a lot of them seem to contain sensitive subjects regarding your village and such, but basically… " She glances up at the sky in thought before snapping her fingers and looking back down. "Basically I know your entire backstories." She furrows her brows and shrugs her shoulders again. "At least, that's one way to explain it."

Jiraiya blinks in shock at this new revelation. "I'm sorry… what?" He blurts.

Yasuko turns towards him unsurprised. She had expected one of them to react like that. "It's exactly as I said." She replies. "Why?"

"Ok, then name one thing, that isn't considered private information, from my backstory." He challenges. She could be bluffing, but she also didn't seem like she was. With this little trick, there was a chance he could find out. Of course, it wouldn't explain everything and he wouldn't let her off the hook until it was confirmed by someone at the village, but it would give him an idea of what he was dealing with.

Naruto sits up from his position laying on his bed and leans forward eagerly. "Yeah, y'know!"

Yasuko raises an eyebrow and smiles as she stares up at the sky in thought. There are a lot of different visions she can choose from, so she ends up staring at the stars longer than first anticipated. "Hm, how about about... " The perfect vision suddenly comes to mind and she snaps her fingers, smiling smugly as she glances back down at them. "Got it. Ok, the first time Naruto asked you to train him you refused to, right?"

Jiraiya narrows his eyes. "How did you… " He wasn't expecting her to be so accurate, but she was right which both surprised and further worried him. She may not have been lying about her abilities, that was starting to become very clear to him.

Naruto blinks and leans over towards Jiraiya. "She's right, Pervy Sage."

Jiraiya scoffs and crosses his arms, turning his head to the side. "Doesn't matter." He argues.

"Anyone could know that." And it was true. Who knows how many people were around when he blatantly denied Naruto's repeated few attempts at asking him to train him. She could've been among them or she could've heard it from someone else. There were many explanations that didn't involve her 'past seeing' ability. And it wasn't like he was ignoring that possibility either, but rather he was trying to justify it, because seeing into one's entire past with just a simple look at them was rather… to put it bluntly, he was pretty sure it was impossible. Even the Yamanaka clan couldn't do it to that extent, which was saying something.

Yasuko smirks. She had a feeling that he was going to say that and she already had the perfect counter. "What about HOW he eventually got you to train him?"

"Ooh, she's got you there!" Cackles Naruto as he clutches his stomach and falls back, still laughing.

Jiraiya's eyes widen and he turns to her, eyes now narrowed. "You're bluffing." She had to be.

Yasuko stares back at him, a smug smile plastered on her face. "I'm not bluffing."

Naruto sits back up and grins. "Say it." He whispers.

"Don't listen to him." Blurts Jiraiya. He knew that there was a chance she was lying, but she didn't look or sound like she was. In fact, she looked as innocent as one could get- ignoring the sinisterly, smug grin on her face. He had to admit that it was kind of creeping him out seeing as how she was so quiet and gentle earlier. It seemed to him like she had a hidden competitive nature.

"Do it!" Encourages Naruto.

And she does.

"I'm sure there's a reason why Naruto calls you 'pervy sage', isn't there?" She asks, even though she full well knows the answer. She gasps as if she's suddenly remembered something and is surprised. "Oh, right! It's because you like- "

Jiraiya throws his pillow at her face. "Alright, alright." He chuckles. "You've made your point." So, she wasn't lying. At least not in this instance.

"Score!" Cheers Naruto, raising his hand to high-five Yasuko, who gladly returns it.

Yasuko laughs and throws him his pillow back. "So, you believe me?" She asks, hopeful. They were the only connection she had to, well, anything and she knew that she needed to earn their trust if she ever wanted to find out what was going on. She more or less already trusted them and was already starting to feel comfortable around them, because they didn't seem like bad people from her visions, but they didn't trust her because they had only just met her. While she knew everything about them, they knew practically nothing about her.

Jiraiya's smile drops slowly. "Yeah, for the most part... " He says, trailing off.

Yasuko's smile fades away and she quickly glances to the side, embarrassed that she had even thought that they'd trust her so quickly. "Right, yeah." But she understands why. "I understand."

Jiraiya turns to her, having already expected that she's understand, and smiles softly. "Good to know."

After that, it's quiet. Yasuko stares up at the sky from her position laying in her sleeping bag while Naruto, also laying in his own sleeping bag, glares at Jiraiya who raises his hands in front of him in defense.

Naruto turns his head upwards annoyed with his mentor, and stares up at the sky as well until he decides to break the silence himself. "So, Yasuko?"

She glances over at him before her gaze returns to the twinkling lights above. "Yeah?"

He turns to the side, away from her, nervously. "Since you know about your backstories and stuff, then does that mean that you know about… y'know… " He says, failing to further elaborate. He catches Jiraiya watching the two of them carefully and so he turns back up the sky.

Yasuko, however, already has an idea of what he's trying to avoid saying. She furrows her brow. "You realize that this would be considered 'confidential' information?" She half- whispers.

"Yeah, I'm just wondering if you know about that part too." Naruto explains, also half- whispering. He doesn't know which answer he wants, but either way he's still leaning on the 'hopefully she doesn't think of me any differently just because of the demon fox inside of me like almost everyone else does' side. He hates when that happens.

Yasuko pauses before answering, trying to find a way to explain it without really saying it. She holds up nine fingers and glances at him. "You mean about this, right?"

He looks over and nods slowly as his question is answered. "Yeah... " And then he looks away again, without another word.

Yasuko stares at the back of his head for a few moments before glancing up at Jiraiya who's distracted himself with a scroll, but she can tell that he's not really reading whatever is written on it. His eyes aren't scanning the page like they should be, but are instead fixated on one spot. And maybe there's something really interesting in that spot, but she honestly doubts it and her suspicions are further confirmed as he glances up at her and puts the scroll away while smiling.

He was testing her.

"Wanna know what else I know, Naruto?" She says, turning from Jiraiya back to him.

"What?" Naruto responds, his head still turned to the side.

She turns herself towards the sky. "Well, for instance I know that you're not what everyone says you are."

He furrows his brows and turns his head towards her, not hearing exactly what she said. "What?"

"The fox." She elaborates. "You're not the fox." She turns her head and stares at him. "You're you."

Naruto doesn't respond. He doesn't know what to say. There aren't many people that would react the way she has once they would find out about the fox within him, so he's not really used to it and to say that he's at a loss for words would be an understatement. He only knew about six other people that knew about it, but still treated him like he was still human- Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and the Third Hokage. He didn't know if Tonton counted. But aside from them, no one else really knew and those that did either avoided him, shunned him, or could never act the same around him again. Heck, even Sakura didn't know. He didn't want to imagine how she'd react when she found out. If she found out.

Yasuko turns back up to sky once she realizes that he can't respond and shrugs her shoulders. "Besides, if you were what they said you were then you wouldn't have helped me back at the forest, would you?" She adds.

And she did it yet again.

"I... " He had nothing to say.

Yasuko turns back to him and smiles. "Exactly."

Jiraiya, having the perfect chance to interject with his new conversation topic, clears his throat to catch their attention. "Speaking of the forest, what happened back there?" He asks her, gauging for her reaction. He doesn't know yet if she remembers or not and he's never had the chance to properly bring it up, but she had just given him the perfect chance.

Yasuko freezes at his words. She had been trying to avoid the topic for as long as she could, but she hadn't realized that he'd use her mentioning it to his advantage. She suspected it, but she didn't expect him to go through with it when the better chance to bring it up would be when they got to the village.

"The forest?" She murmurs.

 _"Are you implying that… that I did this… ?" She murmurs, eyes widened in disbelief._

 _The woman begins laughing hysterically. "Do you need me to make it more obvious?!"_

Her hands clench the sheet tightly. "I don't know." She lies. She hates that she has to. It's the exact opposite of what she needs to do to earn their trust, but it's either that or tell them that she killed people. Compared to the latter, lying didn't seem so bad.

Jiraiya sees the way she hesitates to answer and how her hands clench the blanket tightly. She was either avoiding the question or she was lying and that meant that she remembered what had taken place. "Was it you?" He asks.

Yasuko snaps her head towards him and pushes herself up. "No!" She looks away, embarrassed at her own outburst and lowers her voice. "That… it wasn't me… " She still refused to believe it was. Despite what the woman had said, she refuses to believe that she had actually taken someone's life. Two lives now that she thought about it and that made it even worse.

She turns her head towards the ground.

"So, you don't remember?" He presses, knowing full well that she actually does.

Naruto sits up and is about to start reasoning with Jiraiya when the air around him grows cold.

"You can keep twisting your words to make it sound like a different question, but it's not going to work." She says sharply.

"She said no already, remember." Reminds Naruto, saving his hand in front of Jiraiya to redirect his attention.

"I didn't ask you, Naruto." Jiraiya says flatly.

"Doesn't matter when she already- "

"Naruto." Says Jiraiya, cutting him off as he moves to stand up. "Follow me."

Naruto stares at him dumbfounded. "What? Why should I- "

Jiraiya narrows his eyes at him. "Follow." He repeats, cutting him off yet again.

Naruto groans and moves to stand up, but pauses. "Don't worry, I'll straighten him out." He whispers to Yasuko before following after Jiraiya.

But Yasuko barely hears that. The only thing she hears is the woman's words repeating over and over in her head until finally she catches their loud footsteps crunching every twig and branch in their way, being one of the only other sounds against the quiet night which manage to snap her out of her thoughts. Once she's finally processed what Naruto has said, she waits patiently, trying not the eavesdrop, but the strange, sudden wind that's weaving through the trees carries their words and they end up reaching her ears anyway.

Jiraiya glances to the side and once he makes sure he's out of Yasuko's range of hearing, or thinks he is in this case, he turns back to Naruto. "You saw how strong that jutsu was, didn't you?" He reminds him, gesturing further into the forest as if that's exactly where it took place, but he's just trying to get his point across and he knows that it has when Naruto averts his gaze. "She could be an enemy. A spy. Do you know what would happen if we just let her walk away with all the information she could have? What if she's found by the Akatsuki?" He groans and presses a hand against his forehead. "What if she's a PART of the Akatsuki?" He hisses. "Did you ever think of that?"

Yasuko clutches her head as she hears the word 'Akatsuki' and just like that, another cycle of pain reverberates throughout her skull.

* * *

Third chapter done!

I'm pretty happy with this switch from first person point of view to third person point of view, even though the chapters turn into giant, short story sized chapters. I'm still trying to make sure it makes sense and is properly written, but it's easier to work with this way and I can venture into everyone thoughts like some evil mastermind which, ahem, I'm not... anyway, what do you guys think about it?

Anyway, as usual,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Control

_Six shinobi run across the waters of a river at the break of dawn._

 _"Yahiko?" Calls one of them._

 _Yahiko spares a quick glance behind him. "What?"_

 _"You should name our group." They say. "There are more of us. It'll be necessary soon."_

 _"A name huh... " Yahiko muses, watching as the sun begins to rise and break out over the horizon. "How about the 'Akatsuki?'" He says with a smile._

…..

 _Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. The original founders of the Akatsuki._

…..

 _A girl, Konan. The man standing behind her, Hanzo, a knife in his hand and a threat echoing from his throat down to the two people at the bottom of the cliff. And then the knife in his hand is thrown towards their feet._

 _One of them walks over to the knife slowly, plucking it out of the ground almost robotically, and then holding it in his shaking hands as he stands there frozen, turning between his comrade on the cliff being held hostage and the one beside him. Yahiko. The one he would have to kill to save the girl. But he can't. He'd never._

 _And he doesn't._

 _His friend kills himself, so that he doesn't have to._

 _Konan screams._

 _One second passes and he's frozen still, knife still in his hand._

 _Two seconds pass._

 _Three._

 _His hand is still shaking._

 _Yahiko's body has already hit the ground at this point, the last wishes for his two friends whispered out in a hoarse, but hopeful last breath. "Survive. Save the world… and survive." He told him, because he had hope that his friend would save the world._

 _Nagato would save the world._

 _But Nagato is now blinded by his anger and his need for revenge for one of his closest comrade's life- his friend's life. And Hanzo has decided to change his mind and kill them all which only further fuels his anger._

 _And so, Nagato makes the world burn instead. They would all finally know what true pain felt like._

…..

 _A masked man pulling the strings from the shadows._

…..

 _Yahiko was the leader of the Akatsuki and Nagato would make sure it remained that way. And so the boy with the orange hair started moving as if he were still alive._

…..

 _Revenge. Hanzo's crimson blood splattered against a white wall was one of the best sights that he could ask to see. It was sweet revenge. Nagato had finally avenged him. And it made it better that Hanzo was killed by the same hands that he had ordered to be killed before._

…..

 _A meeting with the masked man. They had plans. And they needed members. Ten members._

 _Nagato/Pain, Konan, and Zetsu being the first three- already present._

 _The immortal ninja Kakuzu, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Itachi Uchiha being recruited._

…..

 _Goal One: Gather information on all Jinjuriki._

…..

 _Goal Two: Gather funds._

…..

 _The monster of the Hidden Mist Kisame Hoshigaki and Sannin Orochimaru are recruited._

…..

 _The masked man's name is Madara._

…..

 _Kisame is paired with Itachi._

…..

 _Main base: Located within the Hidden Rain Village._

…..

 _Hidden Stone's Deidara is recruited and paired with Sasori._

…..

 _The Hidden Steam's Hidan is recruited and paired with Kakazu._

…..

 _Gather all the tailed beasts from the one-tails to the nine-tails._

…..

 _Project Tsuki No Me begins._

:: :: ::

Pounds of pressuring pains hit Yasuko from every side of her head and she knows all the clutching does nothing to ease it, but she can't help it. Vision after vision flow through her head without a filter and the voices overlap one another without a care. Everything jumbles together and she doesn't even bother trying to decipher them anymore.

"Shut up!" She screams, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks. And she knows they can't hear her, the voices. She knows it's all within her head and that even if they wanted to they wouldn't be able to stop, but she can't think straight anymore. "Shut up! Stop talking! Stop it!" Because all she wants is for the pain to stop.

And she thinks why now of all the times? Why in front of them? When she was just trying to convince then to trust her, why did she have to lose her chance?

And why was the pain so unbearable? The pain she was feeling was about a hundred times worse than the pain she felt when she heard the words "Hidden Leaf" and "Ichiraku" earlier that day. What was happening to her? Why was it happening to her?

At first she doesn't hear them calling her name, thinking that maybe it's all in her head again. She ignores it the first time. And the second. She's close to ignoring it for the third time too, but then she realizes the voice was different than the ones in her head. No one in her visions was calling her name, shouting for her. They were talking about something else entirely.

"Yasuko!"

She hears it with such clarity this time, but she can barely lift her head towards the voice let alone see through the tears clouding her vision. But she tries to reply. She tries to call back to the voice, shouting a "what?!" through clenched teeth before clutching her head even tighter. She didn't mean for it to come off so harshly, but it wasn't really her fault. For some reason, she was angry. And she didn't care about anything in that moment except for the pain to cease.

"Calm down." They reply back.

And her eyes widen in a new sort of anger, because the words miss her entirely and she takes it as if they're blaming her, but it isn't her fault. It's her headaches fault. She never asked for them. And in that moment, she'd honestly rather take no memories than that dreadful pain. And she knows she'll eventually regret it, but she doesn't care in that moment.

Yasuko snaps her head up, ready to counter with a furious response, but freezes as she sees what's in front of her. Surrounding her is a cylinder of wind. And for a second she forgets about the pain in her head, because she's reminded of something far worse.

Because she doesn't see the wind anymore.

She sees the earth being pulled up out of the ground, ripping both plant roots and anything else up with it. She sees the earth becoming a wall in front of her, pushing forward and crushing everything in its way without hesitation.

She hears screams.

And she sees crimson.

Yasuko pushes herself back away from the wind, but the wind only follows along with her as it continues to keep her protected. But she doesn't want the protection anymore. She'd never want it if it would reach the same result as before.

She drops to the ground and clutches her head in both pain and fear. "Not again." She murmurs. "No, not again."

And then she remembers that Jiraiya and Naruto were with her and that realization makes her blood run cold. What happened to them? Where were they? No one was calling out to her anymore and she didn't want to think of the reason why that was. The voices in her head wouldn't stop talking, but it wasn't their voices she wanted to hear. She needed to hear Naruto and Jiraiya and make sure they were okay. She wasn't going to let what happened to the woman and the man from before happen to them too. She'd never forgive herself if she did.

So she forces herself to stand up, and even though she stumbles a few times, she doesn't give in to the pain that's telling her to give up. She already regretted hurting those first two people, even if they did hurt her, but she wasn't about to add two more people to that list, especially since she knew these people somehow. Or at least had some sort of connection to them.

"Naruto!" She calls, hoping that her shouts can be heard over the whistling wind whipping around her. "Jiraiya!" She didn't know how to stop the wind. She didn't even know how she stopped the earth or even if she ever did stop it. She doesn't dare take a step forward, because not only did the wind only seemed to follow along with her, but she didn't know if she had the energy to even move. She was suddenly becoming extremely weak and she didn't have a clue as to why.

So she stays standing in her spot, turning her head around and searching through the small pockets of space between each wind gust for a blonde head of hair or a white head of hair.

And she starts to panic when she sees neither. "No." She chokes out, barely forcing herself to take a few hesitant steps forward, but falling back to her original spot as the wind snaps something in her path. She clutches her hands against her chest tightly and drops back down to the ground, her tired and aching head buried in her knees. This wasn't happening again. This couldn't be happening again. She refused to believe it.

"Yasuko!"

Her head snaps up. She knew she shouldn't let herself be so hopeful, but the voice sounded too real to be fake. She hoped that was the case at least, because she didn't know what she'd do if she was wrong.

"Yasuko, listen to me!"

There was no doubt now that the voice calling out to her was real.

Yasuko tries to push herself up, but the exhaustion that was settling in her bones was too much. Her body felt heavy and her eyes could barely stay open. She didn't remember fatigue being one of the symptoms of having visions appear, so what was causing her to feel so weak?

The wind coursing around her starts to dissipate slowly, but Yasuko doesn't move. She can't. It was almost as if all the energy had been sapped out of her. But she forces her eyes to stay open, just until she sees them, then she'd let the exhaustion take over. She'd be lying if she didn't think about giving into it earlier, because, if she was being honest, it felt welcoming and she didn't mind if it took over for a while if it meant granting her some relief.

But she couldn't let it just yet. Not until she saw them. Not until she made sure they were alright. With her own eyes.

So, she glances around slowly, because her head still ached and it was now growing heavy. And she sees them a short ways away, walking towards her carefully. Unscathed and safe.

"You're okay." She whispers in relief. And she smiles softly before the fatigue overtakes her and brings her into a world of darkness.

::

Naruto rushes forward with almost no hesitation and catches Yasuko before she hits the earth. He glances at Jiraiya who's already fetching her severely tattered sleeping bag from a nearby tree and laying it back down onto the ground. Being the object closest to her when the jutsu was cast, it clearly suffered the most damage. He'd have to get her a new one, but for now she'd have to use one of the extra blankets he had stashed in his bag.

Naruto carefully carries Yasuko into her sleeping bag before moving to help Jiraiya bring their other supplies back from within the forest.

Neither of them say anything for a while.

Naruto jumps up onto a branch and pulls his sleeping bag down from the treetop before hopping down and examining the damage. There are only a few small tears, but it was mostly just covered in twigs and leaves which he manages to pick off easily. He rolls the bag up before gathering the rest of the supplies and heading back to the small clearing.

Jiraiya is already there, standing with his back leaned against a tree trunk, and his arms crossed as he watches Yasuko carefully, the blanket already draped across her. "Did you get everything?" He asks Naruto, not looking up.

Naruto gulps. "Yeah, I think." He knew that his chances of convincing Jiraiya that Yasuko wasn't as bad as they thought were slowly diminishing, but he didn't blame him. He was also wary of her, but that didn't mean he wouldn't give her a chance to explain herself.

Jiraiya sighs and walks into the forest. "I'll be back. Don't do anything reckless." He calls back. He not only still needed to set up the seals to protect their area, but he needed time to think properly before Naruto started preaching and trying to convince him to believe the currently unknown.

He had enough reason to be wary of Yasuko when they first met her, but with the new developments that had arose, he was dead suspicious at this point. And all these instances just happened to have occurred right when the Akatsuki were about strike. Of course he was suspicious.

With no memory, one would easily be able to infiltrate and gather intel before being retrieved and having that intel extracted. It didn't seem like an approach the Akatsuki would take, but he didn't know what went on in the minds of criminals. Maybe they decided to switch tactics. Three years had passed after all, so who knew?

Which brought him to his next concern. If Yasuko was being used by the Akatsuki, did she agree to it or was she taken and forced into the role? If she had agreed, then he would treat her as if she were one of them. If she hadn't, then he'd continue to treat her as he did now- save for the whole suspicion part. He'd try and tone it down to a wariness.

And then there was the level of jutsu that she used. He didn't see her weave any signs, but he wasn't exactly paying enough attention to that part so he couldn't be sure either. But she also didn't seem to be able to control it judging from how she reacted.

In the forest, he was the one who had to stop the jutsu that was cast by her. The wall of earth had stopped moving for the most part, but it was still there towering and waiting to crumble. So, he destroyed it before it could hurt anyone else.

But this time he was faced with a cylinder of wind. He had no way to stop her from projecting the wind, because anything that got close was either torn to shreds or propelled away with such force that it would be sent about fifteen yards/ thirteen meters into the distance.

Two chakra natures and with such destructive force you'd think she had some sort of kekkei genkai as well, but that was pushing it.

And now it seemed she had passed out from both chakra exhaustion and her headaches.

Jiraiya places the last seal into place and heads back to the clearing where Naruto is waiting for him. He drops his head and crosses his arms as he sighs again. "I know what you're going to try and say, but you have to listen to me when I tell you- "

"I get it."

"- that trusting people so easily will only… " Jiraiya stops and blinks. "Wait, what did you say?" He questions, turning his head towards him. It wasn't that he was surprised, but more impressed. It'd usually take a while for Naruto to admit that he was wrong, and even then that would only happen on rare occasions.

Naruto rolls his eyes and moves to lay in his sleeping bag. "I said I get it, alright?" He repeats. Of course, he would never want to admit how many times Jiraiya had been right about something, but he would when he had to. This was one of those instances. "But don't take that as a sign of me giving up on her." He adds. "We don't even know the full story yet."

Jiraiya stares at the back of his student's head for a few moments before chuckling. "So, you did learn something in these three years."

"Hey!"

"But don't forget about the possibilities." Jiraiya warns him. "Dismissing them will only make it worse."

Naruto turns on his side, away from Jiraiya, and towards Yasuko. He stares at the side of her head for a few moments before sighing and closing his eyes. "I know."

:: ::

He returns again. The man with the purple- rippled eyes.

"You mustn't fret, Yasuko." He tells her. "You only must learn to first control them before you can learn to properly wield them."

:: :: :

 _Naruto sighs happily as he takes another look around the village. "I'm feeling so nostalgic now." He pauses and glances towards the Hokage Rock again as he notices something. "Hey, Grandma Tsunade's face is up there." He chuckles._

 _Sakura gasps softly as she sees the familiar blonde head of hair standing high up on a pole ahead. "Is it? Is it really him?"_

 _Konohamaru grins. "Looks like it!"_

 _"Naruto!" Sakura shouts, wanting to make absolutely sure. "Naruto, is that you?"_

 _Naruto blinks as the voice calling out to him. It sounded a bit different, but he still recognized that voice. How could he ever forget?_

 _He looks down from the pole and sure enough his pink- haired friend was standing there just as he expected._

 _"When did you get back to the village, Naruto?" Sakura asks him._

 _"Oh, just now." He replies, jumping down beside them. "Long time no see huh, Sakura?" He smiles._

 _Sakura returns the smile before giving a puzzled look and squinting her eyes in suspicion. "Wait a minute… you've gotten taller than me, haven't you?" She realizes._

 _Naruto raises an eyebrow. "Hm?" He places his hand on his head, measuring his height compared to Sakura's and chuckles once he sees the difference. "Yeah, I guess I have."_

 _Sakura laughs softly as she thinks about how much more grown up he seems since that last time she saw him. "So, um, what do you think?" She asks, slightly embarrassed. "Do I seem more like a woman to you now?"_

 _"Are you kidding?" Laughs Naruto. "Not really. You haven't changed at all!"_

 _Sakura's eye twitches and she crosses her arms with a huff as she looks away._

 _Jiraiya sighs. 'Smooth kid. Could you be any more oblivious?'_

 _"Hey, Naruto!" Calls Konohamaru._

 _Naruto turns his head to the other familiar voice just as said voice forms their hands into a seal and creates a puff of smoke._

 _As the smoke clears, it reveals Konohamaru in a female form._

 _Jiraiya grins in delight while Sakura steps both in both surprise and revulsion._

 _Konohamaru transforms back into his former self and grins. "Well, what do you think? Not too bad in the curves department there huh?"_

 _Naruto laughs._

 _Konohamaru blinks and raises an eyebrow in confusion at his rival's reaction. "Huh?"_

 _"Konohamaru, I'm not that scrawny little kid anymore." Naruto tells him. "And you shouldn't be using jutsu like that either. It's beneath you."_

 _Sakura smiles in thought. 'Well, I'll be. It's not just the outside that's changed. I kinda miss the old Naruto, but you've turned out pretty well haven't you? Knowing you, I bet you've got a whole slew of incredible jutsu to show us.'_

 _Naruto smiles before balling his hand into an irritated fist. "I mean come on, Konohamaru! Is that all you got?!" He hollers. "Now step aside and get a load of my grand spanking new pervy ninjutsu!"_

 _Sakura laughs nervously. "Right, like a pervy new ninjutsu."_

 _"Here we go!"_

 _"Are you kidding me?!" Shouts Sakura as she punches Naruto and sends him face first into the ground a short distance away. She marches towards him and yanks his leg up as she pulls him from the ground, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket and shaking him in anger. "What the heck is wrong with you, you pervy little doofus?! We don't see each other for over two years and you have the nerve to go and pull a stunt like that?! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?! Do you?! I don't- "_

 _Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon crowd behind a shocked- and slightly terrified- Jiraiya for protection. 'That hot quick temper and monster strength. You've raised a Tsunade junior.'_

 _'Yep.' Naruto thinks. 'Sakura hasn't changed at all. She might even be more vicious than ever.'_

 _"Huh?!" Snaps Sakura. "Did you say something?!"_

…..

 _"It's been a long time you two." Says Tsunade. "You're training proved to be fruitful, I hope."_

 _Jiraiya scoffs. "You think we'd come back without producing any result?"_

 _"Mission accomplished, Grandma!" Adds Naruto with a grin as he raises a thumbs up._

 _Tsunade smiles. "I'm glad to hear it. Show me what you got, kid."_

 _"What, right now?!"_

 _"I have some of like you to go up against." She explains. "I've kept him off missions the last few days so he'd be ready for just this moment. You're opponent will be- "_

 _Suddenly, there's a knock at the office door._

 _"Come in!" Tsunade calls._

 _The office door opens._

:: :: ::

The first thing she hears are birds chirping from the trees around her.

And then she hears someone snoring soundly beside her.

Yasuko pushes herself up and stretches as she rubs the sleepiness from her eyes. She was still tired though, she noticed. She'd have thought that the rest would do her well, but the heaviness in her body told her otherwise. She hasn't experienced it before, or at least not to this degree. So why did she…

And then the events from the night before coming rushing back to her.

Yasuko groans and pulls the cloth laid atop her up to cover her face. She glances to her side and upon seeing Naruto and Jiraiya in safe condition, she lets out a sigh of relief. Sure, she had seen them perfectly fine yesterday just before she had passed out, but double checking never hurt. Though she didn't want to entertain the possibility, maybe her mind had played a trick on her again. She wouldn't be surprised if it had, but by checking again it helped diminish that possibility.

She glances up at the sky. It was dark save for a few rays of sunlight that were just barely starting to peek up over the horizon. It wasn't exactly night, but it wasn't dawn either. It was twilight. And she didn't know how she knew that, but she supposed that it had something to do with the past she was trying to unlock and the memories she was trying to get back.

Her real memories, that was. She still wasn't sure if those visions she saw were a part of her memories, but until she figured it out, her visions would remain as just visions. She was the only one that remembered them anyway. They couldn't really be counted as memories if the people in them didn't remember her ever being there.

Which brought her to her next concern. If she really was around the same age as Naruto, then how did she have memories of events that occurred way before either of them were even born?

It just didn't make sense.

And she didn't want to test her immortality theory out either. How would she even know if it worked? It would either be that she didn't do enough to test it out or that she'd die. Either way, that option was off the list.

Yasuko sighs and moves to fold the blanket she had laying on top of her. She didn't think she'd be able to fall asleep again and she didn't really want to either. The dreams she kept having were confusing, to say the least. Again, she wasn't complaining about having no pain or headache accompany them, but she was suspicious as to why that was. Was it because she was asleep? She supposed it made sense.

And then there was the man she had told Jiraiya about. He had appeared again, but this time it was almost as if he was really talking to her through her dreams. But that was surely impossible, right?

Yasuko drags a hand down her face in annoyance and moves to fold her sleeping bag to get her mind off of it all only to hesitate as she sees the condition the bag is in. The whole front section had been sliced into ribbons- the back being the better half as it had only suffered a few medium- sized tears here and there. She never did check how bad the damage she had caused actually was. She gulps and begins folding the sleeping bag, placing it by Jiraiya's scroll quietly and carefully before taking a look around.

To her surprise, it wasn't as bad as she had previously thought. Sure, there was a yard/ meter wide crater in the ground that was about a few inches/ centimeters deep and there were a few branches that were shredded beyond recognition that you'd think they were actually just sawdust or something, but the result wasn't as bad as it was the first time. Plus, this time no one got hurt which Yasuko deemed as the best improvement.

Suddenly, the old man's words from her dream come back to her.

"You only must learn to first control them before you can learn to properly wield them."

And so she makes that one of her goals.

* * *

Fourth chapter done!

As re-readers can see, if there are any, I switched a bunch of things around and added a huge chunk of new content, cuz why not. For any new readers, I think you're better off not knowing what the original chapter looked like... yes, it was really that bad. Not saying this chapter is amazing by any means, or anything like that, because I know there are other writers who can do this chapter and story WAY better than I can, but I mean at least the revision is better than the previous version, cuz the original was a nightmare. At least, I think the revision is better?

Opinions anyone?

Other than that,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5: Drawbacks

After her quick assessment, Yasuko decides to take a quick stroll through the forest to pass some time until Naruto and Jiraiya would wake up. She listens to the soft rustling of leaves as a light, early, morning wind weaves its way around them and smiles as two birds fly by her left and nest in a tree nearby before continuing forward through the forest. Even though she may not remember it, she feels as though she was always fond of nature.

With that uplifting thought in mind, she continues with her stroll, but starts to slow her pace as she notices the forest becoming denser. She had to turn back. Something just felt off. Not a good off, not a bad off, but just… off.

She stops when she sees something red standing in the distance. She knows that turning back is the better option, but she feels drawn to the object somehow so she makes her way towards it carefully.

As she starts to approach the object, her eyes widen in surprise when she realizes just how large it really is. It wasn't towering over the tree tops, but it was close enough.

She gazes at the structure, slightly tilting her head to the side, because it seemed familiar to her somehow. The red gateway with two upright pieces and two cross pieces, it was almost as if she had seen it before.

:: :: ::

 _A red gateway._

…..

 _A cave._

…..

 _A boulder._

…..

 _Five seals._

:: :: ::

Yasuko drops her head and rubs her temples at the sudden pain that had accompanied the small vision that had just appeared. She had no idea what the vision meant, though. Whereas the usual visions seemed to give her information on one's past, she didn't know what she was seeing in this new vision.

And she didn't have too much time to figure it out either, because as she glances up at the gateway again to get a second look, she notices the sun's rays already starting to shine down on the treetops, slipping through the many cracks in the foliages canopy before they finally hit the ground. She takes that as her final cue to start heading back.

She wanted to earn Naruto's and Jiraiya's trust, not destroy whatever chances she had of hoping to attain it- which probably wasn't much now that she was thinking about. But she'd still try, because they were one of the only hopes she had so far to figuring out what had happened to her. And that might've seemed like she was using them, but it was their idea too to bring her along with them even though she offered to figure it out on her own. Of course, there was the whole 'I know your village's secrets' thing that also led them to bringing her along. She knew that was a careless move on her part.

Yasuko stops and presses the heels of her hands against the lower part of her forehead, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly before continuing ahead.

She really had to stop thinking so much.

::

Jiraiya blinks and stares at the rolled up sleeping bag laid against his scroll. 'How did he not notice that she had gotten up?' Was the first thing that ran through his mind. The second was 'How much time had passed since she had woken up?' And then the third was 'Where was she now?'

He runs a frustrated hand down across his face and moves to wake Naruto up. "Kid, wake up. We may or may not have a bit of a situation." He says, glancing around quickly. He sits back as Naruto pushes himself up and rubs his eyes.

"What?"

Jiraiya points to Naruto's left- his now deserted left- as he starts sensing for any other nearby chakra signatures. Surely she had one, and if her jutsu usage was any indication, it was most likely a powerful chakra signature if it had been restored overnight. That was, of course, unless she was disguising it. And yes, he wasn't a sensory type by any means, but that didn't mean he couldn't try and sense chakra signatures when he had too.

Naruto turns his head and blinks slowly at the spot for a few seconds, not yet understanding what he was staring at having just woken up, before his eyes widen. He snaps his head back towards Jiraiya quickly, his hands gesturing at the empty spot beside him. "Wait a minute- "

"Yes, yes, she's gone. You've finally noticed." Jiraiya answers, furrowing his brows as he continues searching.

"But how did she- y'know?! "

"I don't know." Jiraiya sighs, somehow understanding exactly what Naruto was trying to say despite Naruto barely speaking any coherent sentences. "Either we let our guards down or she tricked us." He furrows his brows at the chakra signature he senses heading in their direction. "Start taking the seals down." He tells him.

"But what about- "

"She's coming back."

Naruto pauses, nods his head, rolls his sleeping bag up, and then starts heading out to release the seals that Jiraiya had placed up the night before. "No accusations 'till we hear the whole story!" He yells back before disappearing into the treetops.

Jiraiya rolls his eyes. He didn't need his student lecturing him around.

::

Yasuko stops walking as she hears someone yelling up ahead. She couldn't make out what they saying, but she assumed that it was probably Naruto or Jiraiya which meant that they were awake and had surely already noticed that she was gone.

She starts walking again, but quickens her pace. She didn't even know if she was heading in the right direction, but if she followed the voice then surely that would lead her back to their little camp site.

That was if the voice was actually either Naruto's or Jiraiya's, otherwise…

She shakes her head and quickens her pace yet again. At this point, she was more jogging then she was walking. And she wasn't even paying any attention anymore to the shrubs scratching at her pants legs and the twigs and leaves sticking to the rest of her clothing. Not until her hair got caught in a small tree branch and yanked her backwards.

She yelps in pain as her and the now broken tree branch- that may or may not have been snapped off in a small fit of anger- fall to the ground. She carefully pulls the stick out of her hair and continues forward. It hadn't occurred to her to check at her reflection at any point in time so far, but by the looks of it, her hair was already more than midway down her back. And the color was strange too. In the shadows, it seemed black which wasn't really all that strange. But when she was in the few rays of light that were shining through the trees, her hair seemed like it was actually a shade of blue, but that was surely impossible. Blue hair wasn't a normal hair shade, was it?

And so she convinces herself for the time being that it's just a trick of the light and that maybe her eyes were just imagining it.

She'd need either a reflection or a photo to be sure and even then she'd still need a second input, because yes. It was a very serious matter.

As she continues forward, she doesn't notice the pair of eyes watching her from within the treetops as she passes by. And even when she does, the eyes and their owner have already started to move on.

::

Jiraiya places the tattered, but somehow neatly folded, sleeping bag into his pack as someone steps into the clearing. "So, where'd you head off to?" He asks without glancing up.

Yasuko picks off the debris that she's finally noticed are stuck to her and lets out a weak chuckle. "I wasn't planning on taking so long and I kind of lost track of time." She admits sheepishly. "But I was just wandering around since I didn't really have anything better to do."

He glances up. "And if you got lost?" He says, raising an eyebrow.

She smirks to herself and pulls a leaf from her hair. "But I didn't thanks to whoever was screaming."

Jiraiya glares off to the side, making a mental note to once again attempt to ingrain that lesson on stealth back into his students blonde head even though he had just reminded him yesterday. He didn't know how Naruto managed to do it, but it was getting awfully tiring.

Yasuko pauses after she pulls another leaf out of her hair and turns to Jiraiya. "Hey, what color is my hair?"

Jiraiya blinks. Why she always asked strange questions at terribly timed moments was beyond his understanding at the moment.

"It's a dark blue." He finally answers. "Why?"

Yasuko stares at him in a mix of shock and surprise before pulling a large section of her hair from the back and towards the front for a better look. "Wait, seriously?" She sputters.

"Nah, it's more like a midnight blue than just dark blue, y'know." Says Naruto as he suddenly appears from within the forest.

Jiraiya squints his eyes as he gets a second look. "Yeah, now that you mention it, it is more of a midnight than a dark."

Yasuko stares at the two of them dumbfounded. "But it's still blue."

"So?"

"What, you don't like your hair color?" Wonders Naruto. "Is that why you got it stuck in that branch?"

"What branch?" Wonders Jiraiya.

"First of all, that was completely accidental." Defends Yasuko. She furrows her brow as it hits her. "Wait, it was you that was in that tree?"

Naruto blinks. "You saw me?"

Yasuko glances to the side. "Well... no, not really." She admits, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know how to explain it or if it makes sense, but it was kind of like I could feel that someone was watching, I guess."

"Is that so… " Says Jiraiya, mostly to himself.

"Wait, I still don't get it." Naruto says, making sure to quickly change back to the subject from before. Jiraiya going into investigational mode was the last thing he needed. "So what? You don't like your hair color?"

Yasuko shakes her head. "No, it's not that." She mumbles. How she could explain that blue wasn't exactly a _natural_ hair color while also explaining her reasoning behind it was beyond her, but she had a strong feeling that what she was trying to say made perfect sense. To her at least.

Naruto glances at Jiraiya before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, at least you don't look like you've aged a hundred years before your time." He says nonchalantly.

Jiraiya snaps his head towards Naruto offendedly. "And who do you think you're talking about, spike ball?!" He barks.

"Spike ball!?"

Yasuko blinks at the two now bickering males in front of her as she tosses the lock of hair in her hand back. "It wasn't the color that- "

"I thought you said that the fourth had spiky hair just like mine too!" Naruto shouts, pointing at Jiraiya accusingly. "You can't just insult two hokage like that!"

"I was specifically referring to you and you know it!" Retorts Jiraiya. "And you're not even hokage yet!"

"Yet!"

:: :: ::

 _A title given to the leader of the Hidden Leaf Village._

…..

 _First Hokage: Hashirama Senju_

…..

 _Second Hokage: Tobirama Senju_

…..

 _Third Hokage: Hiruzen Sarutobi_

…..

 _Fourth Hokage: Minato Namikaze_

…..

 _Fifth Hokage: Tsunade Senju_

…..

 _Si- th Hok- ge: Danz-_

…..

 _Si- th Hok- e: Kak-_

…..

 _Se- v- th H- ge: Na-_

:: :: ::

Yasuko sits silently as she rubs her temples to ease the slight jolt of pain. She couldn't quite make out the last bits of information she received, but she didn't really mind for the less than even a split second for which she saw them. It only helped lessen her headaches.

Not only that, but she was also still bored and had nothing better to do anyway. She had a feeling that their argument was going to take a while either way.

Now if only they could argue just a TINY bit quieter. Her headache still hadn't faded and she could honestly do without the added trouble.

::

"One of the most important rules of stealth and you've already broken it twice in less than half a week."

"You broke it too, y'know." Naruto mutters.

Jiraiya stares in Naruto's direction pointedly. "And why do you think that is?"

"Because you're terrible at stealth, ya pervy old man!"

"Now you've done it, runt!"

Yasuko closes her eyes and sighs deeply as the two start tackling each other in the middle of the road. Only a few minutes had passed since they had finally started walking, but Naruto's and Jiraiya's argument kept continuing and didn't seem like it was ending any time soon. Yasuko had lost interest in the whole thing as soon as they had somehow returned back to the topic on the proper way to cook fish while out on a mission, much to her complete and utter confusion still.

So, she decides to continue down the path without a word in hopes that they'll follow and start leading again because she honestly had no clue as to where she was even going. She stops and glances behind her, shaking her head as she sees the two still in the same spot before walking back. It was either she continued forward and got herself lost or waited for them to stop bickering and lead. The answer was kind of obvious.

"So… " She drawls, kneeling down to their level laid on the ground. "We're just going to go down this path until we see the next town, right?" It's what they had done before, wasn't it? Right now, they were heading back to the village, so it would either be the village or some random town up ahead and she didn't mind either. As long as she didn't get any more headaches that was.

"Yep." Jiraiya replies, grabbing a struggling Naruto in a headlock. He pauses and glances up. "Why?"

Yasuko shakes her head and smiles. "Just wondering." And then she walks off. "I'll be going ahead then, so whenever you both are done feel free to lead the way." She calls, giving a wave back.

"Wait!" Calls Naruto, escaping Jiraiya's headlock, and running up to Yasuko's side. "I'll lead." He says, sparing an annoyed glance back at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya raises an eyebrow in amusement and chuckles before following after. "Alright, lead the way."

Yasuko stares at the two in confusion, but follows after Naruto regardless. At least they had stopped arguing. Well, sort of stopped. It was hard to ignore the annoyed glares they sent at each other.

"So, " Yasuko starts, glancing at the two as she attempts to change the subject. "How long until we get back to your village?"

Jiraiya shrugs his shoulders. "It depends on a number of factors, but I'd say about a day or two."

"Well, it's about time we got back anyway." Says Naruto, resting his hands at the back of his neck.

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly. "You haven't been back in about three years, right?" She asks cautiously. She already knew the answer, but she needed to hear it for herself in light of the recent strange visions she was having. The ones she was having when she was asleep were definitely different than the ones she was having while she was awake. She knew that part was true. But she wasn't sure why. Not yet.

Naruto glances towards her slowly. Of course, he was aware that she knew about the villages secrets and all that, and he had even witnessed an example, but she talked about those things so easily that you'd think that she was a part of the village herself. Like she wasn't some strange girl they had found in the forest that apparently had some sort of amnesia, but as if she was a close friend or something. Someone close enough to them that they knew was aware of such vital things.

"Yeah." He finally answers. "About three years."

Yasuko turns back to the front of the road, her eyebrow knitted together in thought. It wasn't making any sense. Her visions didn't make sense. If they hadn't been back at the village yet, then those visions she had couldn't have been from the past. They would be… from the future...

But that was impossible. No one can just see into the future. But say she could, then why was she only able to see those certain events? Why couldn't she see the future right now? And why could she only see it while she was asleep? Not that she was complaining or anything. She just… didn't get it.

Jiraiya walks up to Naruto's side and spares a quick glance at Yasuko. "Why the puzzled look?" He asks her warily. He still hasn't figured her out yet, and his previous attempt at doing so didn't work too well in his favor, so he was trying to subtly snag any pieces of information he could get until they could get to the village. Her random and questionable questions didn't help in the slightest. And he couldn't read her mind, so her expressions didn't help either.

Yasuko sighs softly and shakes her head, immediately regretting the last part as her persisting headache continues to nag her. "I don't know." She chuckles softly. "I'm just as confused as you are."

Jiraiya and Naruto glance at each other. Her statement was debatable.

::

Yasuko quickly wipes at the sweat trickling down her forehead and takes a deep breath. She didn't want to ask them to stop so that she could rest for a bit, because she didn't want to deter them from their path again. And really, she didn't know why she was so tired either. Or why she _still_ had this now frustratingly, annoying headache. She had one vision today. Just one, excluding the ones she had in her sleep. And she had been doing almost nothing, but sleeping and walking.

And she asks herself "was it always this hot?" It had barely reached noon and she was walking under the shade of the trees to the side of the road- her excuse to Naruto and Jiraiya being that she liked the feeling of grass and earthy dirt beneath her feet rather than the feeling of gravel- yet her forehead was stricken with so much sweat you'd think she had just finished running some sort of marathon.

She continues walking without complaint though, trying her best to keep her breath even and to only wipe the beads of sweat away when neither of them were looking.

But both Jiraiya and Naruto have already taken notice of her odd behavior.

"You alright, Yasuko?" Calls Jiraiya.

"Yeah." She manages to bite out, turning her head away slightly. "I'm fine."

That was an obvious lie.

Naruto and Jiraiya spare another glance at each other, before Jiraiya walks over to her. "You sure?" He asks her, lowering himself to her level to get a better look at her condition.

But she avoids him, her hair shielding her face. "I'm fine." She says through tensed teeth. It was taking all she could to make her voice stay even. "Really, I am."

Jiraiya narrows his eyes. "You don't sound alright." And she didn't. That conclusion was as clear as the sky above them.

Yasuko lets out an immediately regretted shaky breath. She closes her eyes for a moment and hopes that both actions go unnoticed before walking ahead of Jiraiya. "Sound and feeling aren't the same. Trust me, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

And she freezes, because Naruto is now blocking her path. She doesn't turn her head up though- her hair being the only thing preventing them from seeing her face that's already covered in another layer of sweat.

"Looking something is also not the same as feeling." She says, but her voice is starting to become shaky. Now, it was taking all she could just to stay upright. She didn't know if it was the heat or the sweat, but her vision was becoming blurry all of a sudden. "I'm telling you, I feel fine."

"Oh?" Tests Jiraiya. He walks up beside Naruto and crosses his arms. "If you're really alright, then you won't have a problem looking me in the eye and telling me that, would you?" She was being stubborn and he had no idea of the truth as to why.

Yasuko clenches her teeth tightly and wipes the sweat of her face and neck with the back of her hand- not even bothering to try and hide that action anymore. She takes a few shaky breaths and looks up at him. "I'm fine."

And both Naruto and Jiraiya step back, because not only is she lying through her teeth, but she's staring sharply at them with near bloodshot eyes. Her skin is a sickly shade of white and shining with a new, thin layer of sweat and her hands were trembling.

It hadn't fully struck Jiraiya of the possibility that she was actually, truly sick. It was a possibility, but it wasn't one of the ones he was most expecting. Not after everything that had happened. His first assumption was that she was avoiding something, avoiding the village perhaps. It would make her question from before make a bit of sense. He really just wanted to make sense of it all.

But this was not what he asked for.

"Can we just go?" Yasuko asks, moving to step past them.

Jiraiya places his hand on her shoulder to stop her, but retracts it immediately when he feels heat radiating right through the fabric. It was worse than he thought. "You're insane if you think we're letting you walk around in that condition." He tells her sternly.

"Pervy Sage is right, Yasuko." Naruto says. "You gotta take a break."

Yasuko looks back at them while continuing forward slowly, one foot carefully moving in front of the other.

Jiraiya crosses his arms. "Oh, so now you're mocking us, are ya?"

"You kind of fell into that one yourself, though." Naruto says matter of factly as he follows after Yasuko.

Jiraiya blinks and shrugs his shoulders before following after. "Good point." He didn't know why Yasuko was being so stubborn and he didn't know how she had gotten in the condition she was in when just a few hours ago she seemed almost perfectly fine- save for the obvious cases- but he figured he might as well ask.

But of course, Naruto beat him to it. Sort of.

"Why won't you just stop and rest when it's clear that you need it?" Naruto asks her, stepping in front of her path again in hope that she'd just stop.

Yasuko looks up at him before stepping to the right and walking past him. "I'll do that when we get to our destination."

Jiraiya was having enough of it. One stubborn teenager was enough. He didn't need another. "Alright, we're stopping for quick snack." He decides.

Naruto smirks as his mentor's tactic. "Yeah, I'm beat."

Yasuko snaps her head between the both of them, pressing her palm to her head as a sudden throb of pain hits her. "You're just saying that as an excuse to force me to rest, aren't you?" She accuses.

"Maybe I am." Jiraiya admits. "Or maybe I'm not." He pulls three bars out of his pack and sits down beside the two's feet. "Believe whichever you want if it makes you feel better." He says, handing her a bar while tossing one to Naruto who catches it with ease and sits down.

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the two before sighing and finally sitting down, grabbing the bar from Jiraiya's hand as she does so. But her hands are weak and shaking so much she can barely tear it open.

Jiraiya takes notice of this and grabs it out of her hands, ignoring her next statements saying that "she didn't need help" and that "she knew what she was doing." He tears the wrapper's top off and hands it back to her. "Y'know, asking for help is okay every once in a while." He chuckles. "You don't have to always do things on your own, especially when you can't."

"Pervy sage says that a lot." Naruto inputs, taking a bite out of his own bar. "And it's for a good reason, y'know."

"Ah, so you do listen to my talks."

"Hardy har."

Yasuko glances between the two before grabbing the bar back quickly and beginning to eat it without a word. She slowly pulls the wrapper down before pausing and staring at the ground. "Thanks." She says quietly, before continuing.

"Anytime." Grins Naruto.

Jiraiya smiles. "Of course, kid." And he knew he needed to remember that too.

No matter what roles they may have been forced to take, they were still just kids after all. He'd make sure to preserve whatever was left of their innocence while he still could.

::

Yasuko finishes her bar quickly and shoves the wrapper in her pocket as she moves to stand up, only for Jiraiya to clear his throat loudly as he waves his unfinished bar in front of him.

"Some of us haven't finished yet, y'know." Naruto points out, waving his own unfinished bar for further emphasis.

Yasuko rubs her arm in embarrassment as she sits back down. "Right." She begins to wait patiently, laying her head back against the tree trunk behind her and closing her eyes. ' _It'll just be for a moment._ ' She tells herself. ' _Just until they finish their bars._ '

But she doesn't know that they're purposely stalling for time and even when they do eventually finish, Yasuko has already drifted off to sleep.

"Well, she's stubborn." Notes Naruto, crumbling his wrapper and burying it somewhere in his pack.

"Yeah." Agrees Jiraiya with a chuckle as he does the same with his own wrapper. "Reminds me of a certain blonde- headed knucklehead I know."

"Hey! I am not this stubborn!"

"That's right. You're even worse."

"What!?"

:: ::

 _"Ah, I see you've managed to overdo it again, Yasuko." The man with the purple-ringed eyes says. "Although, I suppose I am also to blame as well." He admits, a bit of bitterness in his tone._

 _It's silent for a few moments._

 _He finally sighs. "This time it's different so I'll help you heal, but listen to what I've told you before and this pain will soon cease on it's own."_

:: ::

Yasuko opens her eyes and stares blankly into the distance, before sitting up abruptly. She glances to the people at her sides. "You- "

"We're not stupid enough to let someone in that sort of condition push themself to complete exhaustion." Jiraiya says, cutting her off. He rolls his scroll back up and places it in his pack.

Naruto places the last kunai back in his pouch and places it back against his right thigh. "Yeah, at least give us some credit here."

"But don't you have to get back to your village?" Yasuko asks.

"Yeah, and we'd rather do that with every one conscious, thank you very much." Jiraiya replied matter of factly as he starts standing up.

Yasuko watches as Naruto does the same before rubbing her forehead. "Well, then can you at least tell me how long I was out for?" She asks hesitantly and in a sort of hushed tone, not really wanting to hear their answer.

Jiraiya shrugs his shoulders. "About four hours, I guess."

She slowly raises her head up in shock. "Four hours? You let me keep you sitting here for four hours?"

Naruto scoffs. "Four hours is nothing compared to how long Pervy sage has kept me waiting while he did his ridiculous research during our training sessions."

"Ridiculous?!" Gasps Jiraiya.

Yasuko watches as the two go at each other before pushing herself up carefully, blinking in surprise as she realizes that the pain has disappeared completely- almost like it had never been there in the first place.

 _"This time is different so I'll help you heal, but listen to what I've told you before and this pain will soon cease on it's own."_

"How did he… " She murmurs in confusion.

Jiraiya pauses and glances at her. "Doing okay?"

Yasuko looks up at him, her eyes a mix of puzzlement but also astonishment. "Yeah." She finally replies. She then chuckles, much to Jiraiya's initial surprise. "Yeah, I actually feel perfectly fine."

He raises an eyebrow in skepticism before smiling. "Ok, great. Then let's head off, shall we?" He says as he starts down the path.

"We shall!" Cheers Naruto, following after. "To the village!"

Yasuko smiles softly and follows without hesitation. She was starting to think that maybe she hadn't made the wrong choice after all.

::

Jiraiya narrows his eyes, a pillow stuffed between both of his arms. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to avoid us in order to escape."

"How would I even escape when I don't even know where we are?" Yasuko says in exasperation. She sighs, eyes drifting down towards the floorboards of their new inn that they were currently staying at. "I just… I want a separate room so that what happened last time won't happen again." She admits.

Jiraiya watches her for a few moments in silence. "Connected room." He finally says.

She looks up and blinks at him in confusion. "What?"

"You can have your own room, but it has to be connected." He reiterates. He knew he was taking a huge risk with letting her stay in a separate room with what had just happened that morning, but it was true that since she supposedly didn't have any memory, then she wouldn't even know where to go even if she did try to escape. "Deal?"

Yasuko grins. "Deal."

"Aw, come on." Complains Naruto. "I wanted to hear her tell more stories like she did last time."

"Ha!" Jiraiya chucks a pillow at him. "Not a chance." Plus, there was no way he was going through that mental torture again. Keeping Yasuko in a separate room kept Naruto and her from coming up with evil schemes to embarrass him.

He sighs.

Teenagers.

* * *

Fifth chapter done!

These chapters seem way too long… I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing yet because I want the character development but I also want the plot development but I also don't want to drag things on but everything seems out of whack so I'm just confused now. Am I just overthinking it? I mean it is my first fanfic, so maybe I am just overthinking it? I don't know. *sighs*

Ah yes… because making fun of my own age group is just genius. (My own age group as of now, that is… ) My poor, dumb soul… what have you done to yourself? (At this point, it's spread like a virus. From my daily life to my stories. Good grief, I'm acting like some old timer who's hates children. And I am a children. *sigh* (Note: Typo For children was done purposely.) (Also, for the record, I don't hate children. I get overwhelmed being near them because I don't want to accidentally hurt their fragile bodies or scar their minds for life, but I don't hate them. They're precious beans! *holds back tears* Well, most of them at least… )

"Questionable questions." -_- Real poetic...

Anyway…

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6: Bonds And Connections

The three continue their trek back to the Hidden Leaf the next morning.

"That reminds me." Blurts Jiraiya, glancing to his left as he and the two beside him continue to head down the path. "You said that you have visions every time you have a headache, right?"

Yasuko blinks up at him, but nods her head.

"Ok, so what visions did you see when we were camping in the forest the other day?" He asks. He didn't know what she had heard, but if it had anything to do with what he pulled Naruto to the side for- seeing as how her headache emerged after that took place- then it was a development. He wasn't sure if that development was a good thing or a bad thing yet, but it was a development for the time being.

Yasuko avoids eye contact and stares at the road ahead. She really didn't want to be reminded of that day, but they brought it up so easily as if it was something that could easily be forgiven. She didn't get it. Or them. She didn't get them either. She could rewatch the visions of them in her head all she wanted and she would think she knew them because it felt like she did, but she was still taken aback by how… welcoming they were? They still hadn't pushed her away despite all that had happened, but maybe that was only because they wanted the information she had.

She shakes her head. She didn't know why she ever even thought that, because even they didn't seem like they'd sink that low. She was becoming more paranoid at this point then actually cautious or curious.

"Hel~lo?"

Yasuko blinks at the hand waving in front of her face and turns to the owner. "What?"

Naruto drops his hand and raises an eyebrow. "You never answered the question, y'know?"

"Question?" She quieres, glancing up at Jiraiya. And then it hits her. "Oh, right!" She rubs the back of her head and chuckles sheepishly. " _That_ question." She says, laughter fading and eyes darting to the side again.

"Yeah, the question you seem to be avoiding for some reason." Jiraiya points out.

"Not avoiding the question." She defends, crossing her arms. "More of 'avoiding the events that surround the question' really." She says with a small wave of her right hand. It was better that she came clean anyway. Her reluctance would only being more suspicion upon her from them and that was the exact opposite of what she wanted. She had enough dealing with being suspicious of herself let alone others doing the same.

She sighs. "Since you really wanna know, then… well basically, I overheard a few words from that conversation you were having with Naruto." She says quietly.

Jiraiya stares at her for a few moments before tearing his gaze away and staring at the road ahead. "Oh." He was afraid that she might say that.

Yasuko spares a small glance at him. "Oh?"

Naruto narrows his eyes at Jiraiya. "I think you broke him." He says, jabbing Jiraiya's shoulder and waiting for a reaction. "It doesn't happen a lot, but it's kind of annoying when it does because he 'tends to zone out anyone that tries to talk to him so that he can sort through his thoughts.'" He quotes, glaring off to the side. "Or so he says." He mutters. He sighs and shrugs his shoulders. "But he'll be fine."

Yasuko furrows her brow as Jiraiya continues staring ahead blankly. "Right… "

::

"So, what did you see then?" Jiraiya finally says, glancing towards Yasuko.

"Told ya he'd be fine." Naruto blurts, slapping away at the hand from Jiraiya that's trying to keep him from changing the subject.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow in amusement before turning away and focusing on the subject at hand. She thinks back to what exactly caused the headache and the first thing she remembers is the word Akatsuki. Immediately afterwards, she sees an image of red clouds in her head and then she slowly continues remembering the rest. "A group called the Akatsuki?" She says, glancing up at Jiraiya. "Black cloaks with red clouds, right?"

Jiraiya opens his mouth to speak only to shut it. Classified information. She knew all about the classified information that only the high ranking officials knew about. Civilians didn't know about that kind of stuff and while she wasn't exactly a civilian, she also wasn't a high ranking official or anyone associated with them, as far as he was concerned. So he was speechless for the moment, but not really because he was surprised that she knew, but because he didn't know _how_ she knew.

She had said before that her visions could be fragments from her past- some of them at least- so what did that mean regarding the Akatsuki? That they too were somehow a part of her past? And if so, then how?

"Uh, pervy sage?" Frets Naruto. "You're kind of creeping us out here, y'know."

"That wasn't the answer you wanted to hear, was it?" Guesses Yasuko.

Jiraiya shakes his head. "No, no. It's fine. It just brings up more questions than answers, is all." He chuckles nervously. But no, that was not the answer he wanted to hear. "So?" He questions, glancing at her.

Yasuko furrows her eyebrows in puzzlement. "So... what?"

"So, what did you see?"

"What did I see?"

"No, what did _I_ see." He mocks. "Yes, what did you see?"

Yasuko rubs at the back of her neck as she turns away and laughs weakly. "Hilarious." She glances towards the ground. What did she see? Hell if she knew. She stopped trying to decipher everything after a certain point, so she didn't know what she saw really. But it seemed to her that the Akatsuki used to be a good group before the man in the mask intervened. After that, they became the group they were today. A gang of rouge ninja's that were after the people that were hosting tailed beasts within their bodies. People like Naruto. "Jinjuriki." She murmurs as the word suddenly comes to her.

:: ::

 _One Tails: Shukaku (Status: Alive)  
One Tails Jinjuriki: Gaara of the Sand (Status: Alive)_

 _Two Tails: Matatabi (Status: Alive)  
Two Tails Jinjuriki: Yugito Nii (Status: Alive)_

 _Three Tails: Isobu (Status: Alive)  
Three Tails Jinjuriki: Yagura (Status: Deceased)_

 _Four Tails: Son Goku (Status: Alive)  
Four Tails Jinjuriki: Roshi (Status: Alive)_

 _Five Tails: Kokuo (Status: Alive)  
Five Tails Jinjuriki: Han (Status: Alive)_

 _Six Tails: Saiken (Status: Alive)  
Six Tails Jinjuriki: Utakata (Status: Alive)_

 _Seven Tails: Chomei (Status: Alive)  
Seven Tails Jinjuriki: Fu (Status: Alive)_

 _Eight Tails: Gyuki (Status: Alive)  
Eight Tails Jinjuriki: Killer Bee (Status: Alive)_

 _Nine Tails: Kurama (Status: Alive)  
Nine Tails Jinjuriki: Naruto Uzumaki (Status: Alive)  
_

:: ::

Yasuko glances at Naruto and then Jiraiya. So, they hadn't heard her say that word out loud. This time. But she was bothered my something regarding it. "Hey, Jiraiya?" She calls quietly, clenching the hem of her shirt.

Jiraiya looks over quickly. "Yeah?" He says, turning back to the road.

"Well, I know I shouldn't answer your question with another question, but it's bothering me and I was wondering… " She turns away and stares ahead solemnly. She already had a guess, but guesses weren't answers and for some reason she was desperate for an answer.

She slows her walking to a stop. "What happens… if a tailed beast is extracted from its jinjuriki?" She asks barely above a whisper.

And then she knew that she wouldn't like the answer he was going to give her, despite not even hearing it yet.

Jiraiya and Naruto both halt.

And then they both turn around.

Yasuko simply glances up and stares at them, waiting for an answer- one that she knows she'll dread hearing, but needs to hear regardless.

Naruto turns to Jiraiya quickly, hoping that his mentor has some sort of idea to change the subject, but steps back when he sees his mentors eyes narrowed. "Pervy sage- "

"The next town is five minutes away." Jiraiya says, swiftly turning on his heel and continuing down the road.

Naruto glances back at Yasuko before walking after Jiraiya, keeping a few paces behind him. He knew there was no point in trying to reason with him the way he was now. He'd just have to wait.

But Yasuko's question still weighed heavily on his mind.

And as Yasuko watches the two walk away silently, following only after the tight aching in her chest seized, she knew she had her answer.

And just as she thought, she didn't like it one bit.

::

They all went to bed in a town inn with barely a word. Naruto and Jiraiya in one room and Yasuko in her own connected room. No jokes. No goodnights. Just silence.

Yasuko felt as though she deserved that. She shouldn't have asked and she didn't know why she thought it was okay to. She just felt as though she needed to know, because if the Akatsuki were going after the tailed beasts as she saw in her vision, then that would mean they were going after the people hosting them as well.

And while she had only just met Naruto, it felt as though she had known him her whole life. She didn't know if she could have someone so close to her snatched away like that and it hurt her to think that that could end up becoming the case.

Yasuko clutches at the blanket draped over her, shutting her eyes tightly, and staring at the darkness behind her eyelids. It was sort of comforting and for her that was just enough to chase away some of the pain and lull her to sleep.

She'd try and apologize in the morning, but she wouldn't blame them if they didn't forgive her completely or at all. Not with her situation. She'd be wary too if she were in their shoes.

::

Naruto listens to the sound of a brush sweeping against paper for a few minutes in silence, before finally asking the question of his mind. "Pervy Sage… when Yasuko asked- "

"Forget about what she asked." Jiraiya says, cutting him off. "It's not going to happen."

Naruto turns his head just until he can see Jiraiya's face, but turns away as he only sees his back. He waits a few moments in silence, before speaking again. "They die, don't they?" He guesses quietly.

Jiraiya snaps his head towards him. "Naruto, I said that it wasn't going to happen."

"I was just wondering." Murmurs Naruto as he drifts off to sleep.

Jiraiya watches him for a few moments before turning back with a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair as he does so. "Fear can only get us so far, kid." But he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't afraid as well.

::

Yasuko clasps her hands in front of her and bows. "I apologize for what I said before. It was uncalled for and I'll try not to do it again. I won't blame you if you decide to drop me off here and be on your way nor will I mind if you decide to bring me along to continue your interrogation within the village." She raises her head, but avoids looking up at them. "I know I can't take back what's already been said, but I do hope that your relationship hasn't suffered because of it."

"Relationship?" Blurts Jiraiya. Surely she didn't plan on telling Naruto that he was his godfather. He wanted to do that for himself, at some point in time…

Yasuko finally looks up. "Mentor and student." She says, staring Jiraiya in the eye. "What else could I be referring to?" Godfather and godson, was what she would be referring to, but she knew that she needed to stop revealing things at the wrong moments. So she opted to state the obvious and known.

"Right." Jiraiya chuckles knowingly but nervously. "Yeah, mentor and student." So she knew and that unsettled him, but she also knew well enough not to say anything- this time- which worked in all their favors.

Most of them at least.

"You hesitated, y'know." Naruto says, eyeing Jiraiya suspiciously.

"I did not."

"I'm pretty sure you did, pervy sage." He insists. "What, are you saying we're actually related or something?" He chuckles.

Jiraiya throws his head back and laughs. "Don't even joke about that." He suddenly stops laughing and stares Naruto dead in the eye. "No, seriously. Don't."

Naruto raises his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine." He says, dropping his hands. "Yeesh." He mutters. He turns back to Yasuko and smiles. "And apology accepted."

"Yeah, sure." Says Jiraiya, picking up his scroll and pack. "Just make you don't say anything like that again, alright? Not while we're here at least."

Yasuko nods her head swiftly. "Understood."

He blinks and glances back at her. Her tone of voice and behavior sounded too much like she was accepting strict given information for a mission rather than agreeing to keep things on the down-low for the time being. He supposed it was sort of the same thing, but it wouldn't stop bugging him even as they left the inn, grabbed breakfast, and continued on their way back to the village.

He'd have to hear more about this Menma character that Naruto compared her to.

::

"Tell me about this Menma guy, Naruto."

Naruto quirks an eyebrow and stares up at Jiraiya in confusion. "What about him?"

"Just tell me about him." He repeats. He sighs at Naruto's still puzzled expression. "You know, so that we can figure out how to help Yasuko by going off of someone else's experience?" He hints. It wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't like he was lying either, because maybe there really would be a way to help Yasuko from hearing about how someone else overcame amnesia.

Yasuko only listens to the two silently. It was a good idea, but she didn't know how well it would work with how different the two of them were. Sure, the two had some similarities, but not every person would deal and recover from things the same way as another would. What may have worked for Menma may not work for her.

But she doesn't say anything, because she didn't want to make the same mistake as last time. Besides, she supposed it didn't hurt to try anyway.

Naruto's eyes widen as Jiraiya's words finally sink in. "Oh, I get it!" He realizes. "Yeah, yeah! That could work!"

"See?" Chuckles Jiraiya. "So, tell me about him."

Naruto looks up in thought, hitting his right fist down on his left palm as he starts remembering all the details. "Oh right, uh, well he was actually a part of this gang of bandits but he didn't remember it when we found him, so at that time we- "

"Gang of bandits?" Interjects Jiraiya, an eyebrow raised.

Naruto waves him off. "Yeah, yeah, but the thing is he was actually a good person at heart and to prove that he helped us go against the gang of bandits and save the town." Naruto looks ahead, the eagerness from before about telling the story fading. "But… he sacrificed himself in the process." His eyes dart towards Yasuko for a split second. He hoped that she wouldn't follow the same path.

Jiraiya strokes his chin in thought. "I see." He turns to Yasuko. "What do you make of it?"

Yasuko blinks. "Me?" She blurts, surprised. She wasn't exactly expecting to be included in the conversation. Not after all that had happened. She rubs at the back of her head. "I, well… " What did she think about Menma?

She drops her hand. "Well, I think that maybe he should've just let Naruto send in one of his shadow clones to blow up the mines instead of giving up his life when there was an alternative." She shrugs her shoulders. "And while the mental tax of essentially losing his life would weigh on Naruto's conscious, it wouldn't be the first time his shadow clones would have basically died so I think he would've been able to handle it."

Jiraiya stops walking, his eyes wide. "Wait, what mines?" He asks warily, glancing towards Naruto who's stopped beside him. "Did you mention mines?"

Naruto shakes his head as he stares at Yasuko in awe. He turns to Jiraiya with a grin. "See! She really can see the past, y'know."

Yasuko stops and turns her head between the two in confusion. "I thought you already knew that."

"We… did." Jiraiya says, lowering his eyes and narrowing them at the ground in thought. "But- "

"But you didn't believe it." She guesses.

Jiraiya glances up to retort only to stop in puzzlement when he sees the knowing but sad smile on Yasuko's face.

"Yeah, I don't blame you." Is all she says before walking ahead.

::

"Ok, ok, now tell me about the bell test Kakashi sensei made us do." Naruto says eagerly.

:: :: ::

 _Kakashi clutches the flower in his hand tightly. "Dad... " He murmurs, placing the flower on his father's grave. He sits down in front of it silently and remains there even after the rain starts trickling down slowly._

.….

 _Kakashi's eyes widen and he moves to shove the large boulder off of his teammate._

 _His teammate only tells him that it's pointless and that he couldn't even feel the right half of his body anyway. But he makes him promise one thing._

 _"Kakashi." He calls. "Protect Rin."_

 _Kakashi clenches his fists, but nods his head regardless. "... I will."_

...

 _He stands there, right palm faced down. "Obito, this is the jutsu I was able to perfect with your help." His left eye flashes red and a collection of lightning chakra starts forming around his hand._

...

 _Terror and panic flashed in his eyes. "Rin!" He gasps, pulling his hand out of the hole in Rin's chest caused by his attack. "No..." He chokes._

 _He broke his promise._

...

 _Kakashi's somber gaze slowly falls on two funeral frames- one with a photo of a man with yellow hair and the other with a photo of a woman with red hair. "Minato sensei… " He murmurs softly._

 _The dark sky above crackles with thunder as rain starts to fall.  
_

 _"I'm Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes… My dreams for the future… Hmm… As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies…"  
_

 _"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He quotes, remembering that those exact same words were once spoken by his own comrade. One he didn't appreciate enough until he was gone._

 _Kakashi sighs. "You all… " He turns around to the three behind him with a soft smile. "Pass."_

...

 _"Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life."_

.….

 _"Don't worry, I'll protect the three of you with my life." He promises. "I will not let my comrades die."_

:: :: ::

Yasuko scrunches her eyes closed and turns away.

"Gah! Sorry!" Apologizes Naruto frantically. "I totally forgot about that part." He admits with a groan.

"No, it's fine." She reassures, trying her best to give him a smile but failing to do so through the aching in her head. "You didn't mean to do it on purpose anyway." But at least the pain was starting to fade.

"You alright?" Calls Jiraiya from his place behind them. He knew that Naruto had been careful before about keeping names and such out of the conversation he was having with her, but it was only a matter of time before they slipped up. They had already been talking for over an hour, after all. He honestly didn't know if they'd ever stop.

Yasuko nods her head. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He narrows his eyes and pops his head inbetween the two. "You're not trying to hide it like last time, are you?" He questions suspiciously.

Yasuko chuckles. "No, not this time." She takes a deep breath and smiles as the pain becomes just a distant thudding in her head. While she notices that the headache faded much quicker than the previous times before that, she doesn't think too much of it yet. She honestly just wants to continue the conversation she was having, because she was actually sort of happy that they were talking again. Especially considering what had happened the day before.

Jiraiya raises an eyebrows in skepticism, but moves back into his original position anyway. "Ok, then. If you say so."

Yasuko turns to Jiraiya. "Ah, you think I'd lie?" She jokes.

"I don't know." He says, shrugging his shoulders. "Would you?"

She shakes her head, catching the double meaning behind his words. "Only if I had to, which I don't by the way." She says pointedly. She turns back to Naruto. "So, back to the convo?"

Naruto blinks, his face splitting into a grin seconds later. "The bell test." He repeats.

Yasuko tries to hide the smug grin on her face. "Well, you all failed at first." She says, breaking out in laughter as Naruto mutters a 'don't remind me' and he kicks a few of the stray rocks on the mostly beaten path. She smiles at him. " _But_ you all did work together and finally pass."

"How?" He asks her.

"Ah." She glances upwards in thought as she begins to recall it all as if she were actually there. And sometimes it actually felt like that. "So, basically it ended with you being tied up against the training post for trying to eat lunch early and your sensei clearly told your teammates that you were not allowed to eat lunch with them as punishment, but you all agreed to disobey so that you had a better chance at getting the bells with your energy up.

"Despite your sensei catching you all in the act of sharing lunch, you all stood by one another, even at the risk of being sent back to the academy." She rambles. She turns to Naruto with a smile and winks. "Lucky for you three, that was exactly what your sensei was looking for." She turns away and shrugs her shoulders. "And sure, you never got the bells, but that wasn't really the point of the practice anyway."

Narutos eyes twinkle in amazement. "Awesome, y'know!"

"Wow." Comments Jiraiya, eyebrows raised. "She's like a portable encyclopedia." And from hearing the countless stories that she was retelling to Naruto with practically perfect accuracy, it only furthered his resolve to get to the village as soon as possible to figure out her story. But he'd be lying if he didn't say that he was also impressed as well.

Naruto glances at him in bewilderment. "An encylo- what?"

Jiraiya chuckles. "Ok, well maybe not an encyclopedia, but something similair to it." And it was true on that account as well, because, while she knew a lot, she didn't know everything either. She only had information on the select few. He didn't know why that was yet, but he figured that he'd find out anyway when they got to the village. He'd hate to have a repeat of last time, especially since she tended to do it subconsciously and didn't seem to be able to control it either.

Naruto narrows his eyes, still not having understood what Jiraiya was talking about. "Ok… " He says, uncertainty dripping in his voice. He turns back to Yasuko with a grin, glancing back at Jiraiya warily, before leaning towards Yasuko's ear with a sinister grin. "Ok, this time tell me something embarrassing about Pervy Sage." He whispers.

"Oh?" Yasuko turns to him with a smirk, one that was starting to fill with an almost equal level of sinister evil behind it. "You sure?"

"Uh, no." Interjects Jiraiya as he shoves both of them to opposite sides, placing himself between them. "Don't even think about it. Or did you forget that I'm literally walking right behind you two?"

"Aw, you always gotta ruin everything Pervy Sage!" Complains Naruto as he crosses his arms.

Yasuko laughs, her laughter dialing down to a snicker as Jiraiya glares in annoyance in her direction.

Jiraiya sighs and stares ahead. "I honestly don't know why I still bother with you two."

::

Jiraiya scoffs. "I don't _care_ if the rooms are connected. No sleepovers and no stories." He warns, pointing at the two smirking teenagers in the room, one who was only head- ways in the room. "Go. To. Bed."

Yasuko blinks, tilting her head- that was poking through the connected room's doorway- to the side questioningly. "But why are you going out again instead of resting like the rest of us, Jiraiya?" She asks, pointing at him as she raises as eyebrow, acting as if she had no clue whatsoever.

Naruto tries to hide his growing smirk. "Yeah, pervy sage."

Jiraiya's eye twitches. They were purposely pushing his buttons. He groans in annoyance and marches towards the door. "You both better be in bed by the time I get back." He warns them, exiting and shutting the door behind himself.

The two only grin in response, jumping and giving each other high fives before settling down and continuing their previously interuppted conversation from earlier.

After a few minutes, Jiraiya pushes himself off the wall and finally walks away from the door as he begins heading down the hall.

::

Yasuko stops and turns to Naruto, concerned. "Are you sure you're not bored with hearing these stories?" She asks him, eyebrows furrowed.

Naruto shakes his head. "Why would I be? It's like watching a movie, y'know. As you say the words, my head sees the pictures." He pauses for a few moments before shaking his head with a chuckle. "Now that I think about it, it's actually more like I'm reliving the moment. The ones with me in them, anyway."

Yasuko narrows her eyes, slightly confused. "Is… is that a good thing or… ?" He had answered her question, but he had only left another one in its place.

Naruto laughs. "It's the best thing, y'know."

She let's out a small sigh of relief and smiles. "Good to know." She says quietly.

::

Jiraiya hums to himself as he continues back to his room, a towel draped over his shoulder. He stops at his room and slides the door open, eye twitching at the two sprawled on the floor inside, both of them apparently sound asleep.

He sighs and walks in, shuting the door behind himself as he reaches for the two neatly folded blankets to the side, draping one on each teen.

Naruto almost immediately kicks his blanket off and rolls on top of it, his arms and legs splayed across the floor whereas Yasuko simply turns to the side and pulls her blanket up to her nose as she brings her knees to her chest.

Jiraiya sighs again and starts walking towards the empty room just next door, not even bothering to try and re- cover Naruto because he knows that he'll just end up with the same result. At least, Yasuko was a bit civilized.

But he can't help but smile because for the first time in a while he just sees two mostly innocent kids, the parts they're meant to play just an insignificant detail that he chooses to overlook for the sake of a brighter day.

::

 _Explosive birds._

 _Suffocating sand._

 _Deadly puppets._

 _Crimson._

 _Crimson._

 _Blood._

Yasuko's eyes snap open and she stares up with wide eyes into the barely lit room, the only light coming in through the window behind her.

Oh, how she wished she could enjoy the sunrise in peace.

But her heart was racing with fear and she didn't know what those snippets of visions were, but they were nothing like the ones from before. She didn't know what any of them truly meant yet, but she knew one thing for sure.

These were far worse.

::

Yasuko squints her eyes as a gate starts appearing in the distance. As soon as she realizes that it's the Hidden Leaf entrance gates, her head starts throbbing and the pain only grows larger as they continue forward until she decides to stop walking altogether.

Both Jiraiya and Naruto stop and glance back with the latter walking over and asking if she's okay.

"Not really." She admits for the first time. She tries to keep her breathing steady as she presses her palm against the base of her forehead. And then she suddenly starts glaring at the ground when the pain spreads. "Why do I feel like I'm about to vomit?" She says in annoyance as she presses her other hand against her stomach.

"Alright, let's hurry before she pukes." Says Jiraiya as he starts to quicken his pace.

"Just knock me out or something." She groans. "It'll save time. It's weird, yes, but time consuming, no." She rubs at her forehead. "Besides, at this point, I honestly don't even know what hurts anymore."

Jiraiya glances back and chuckles nervously. "You have a concerning sense of humor." His eye twitches when she glances up at him with a blank expression. "You… you were joking, right? About the knocking out thing?"

She shrugs her right shoulder. "Not exactly, but I guess I should still thank you for the compliment- strange of a compliment as it may be."

"It wasn't- " He stops mid- sentence as he spots the small smirk on her face and shakes his head, turning back to the front. "Nevermind." He mutters.

Naruto snickers before leaning towards Yasuko's ear. "But, uh, you _were_ kidding about the knocking out thing, right?" He asks her in a hushed, but also worried tone, because she couldn't possibly be serious… right?

Yasuko blinks at him and then turns her head between the two. "How did either of you manage to come to that conclusion?" She says, dumbfounded.

Jiraiya drags a hand down his face. "Unbelievable." She was actually serious.

They're barely ten steps forward when Yasuko suddenly collapses on the ground.

"Pervy Sage!" Shouts Naruto, already at her side.

Jiraiya immediately crouches down beside her.

"That damned gate is starting to become a problem."

"Uh, language."

"That _darn_ gate." She says slightly irritated, more at the situation than at them, but she could digress. "You know, I wasn't kidding when I said knock me out." She offers, trying her best to keep her breakfast from rising back up her throat.

"And I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to get to the village with everyone conscious." He retorts. And that manages to quiet Yasuko long enough for Jiraiya to rummage through his pack and pull out a wrap of bandages.

"I've already replaced the wrap on my arm." Yasuko points out.

Jiraiya starts unwrapping the roll. "This isn't for your arm." He says seriously.

::

"I can't see."

Naruto raises an eyebrow in amusement. "I think that's kind of the point, y'know." He laughs.

Jiraiya places the bandages away and readjusts his handiwork. "I'm a bit rusty on head bandaging, so do me a favor and stop fidgeting."

"I'm sorry, but there are bandages wrapped around my face." Yasuko says, pointing at where she thinks her eyes are. A snicker from Naruto tells her she's most likely missed the mark completely, and she groans in frustration. "To say I feel as vulnerable as a bug under a lizards gaze would be an understatement." She mumbles quietly.

"Quite the analogy." Jiraiya remarks.

"I'm panicking."

He reties the loose bandage ends and stands up, carefully pulling Yasuko up afterwards. "Why?" He asks, suddenly very aware of her trembling state which only heightened his worry.

And she stills, unable to respond immediately like she had hoped, because in truth, she didn't know why she was panicking. But she knew that she was afraid. She didn't know from what, but she could confirm for sure with every fiber of her being that she was afraid. Terrified even.

"I… I don't know." She finally says, turning her head down. She squeezes her already shut eyes tighter.

Jiraiya can only conclude one thing. "Do you think it might be something regarding your past?" He asks in an understanding tone.

Yasuko pauses before shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know." She hadn't really thought that far ahead yet. She was more concerned with remaining calm more than anything else. That and seeing two inches in front of her. "Are you sure the bandages are necessary?" She asks.

"Seeing as how we're about to head into the very place that's already giving you headaches just from looking at the entrance, then yes. Yes they are." He strokes his chin in thought. "A hat would've been better, though."

Naruto scoffs as he turns away. "We could've used mine, but you just had to burn it."

Jiraiya sighs and rubs his temples. "Naruto, we resolved this four months ago."

"That's what you said about my wallet, Gama, and the next thing I knew I was broke!"

"Hey, that is a totally different story!" He defends. "And need I remind you we in a cave in the middle of a storm! I needed kindling and you happened to have a perfectly dry straw hat in your pack, so that's not my fault!"

"And you had those weird books of yours! You sacrificed my hat for nothing!"

Jiraiya gasps, deeply offended. "How dare you?"

Naruto crosses his arms and grins in victory. "Truth hurts, huh?" He says with a sly grin.

Yasuko resists to urge to slap her palm against her face with a deep sigh. She didn't know how her simple questions fueled an entire war between them, but she supposed being stuck with each other for three years doing nothing but training to survive had something to do with it.

"What if I just kept my face down the whole time?" She suggests, returning the conversation back to the original subject.

Jiraiya glances at her briefly. "You think you can do that until we get all the way through?"

Yasuko shrugs her shoulders. "I'd rather do that than wear these wraps." She admits bitterly. She didn't think she wanted to know why she felt panicky when she wore them, but she knew that she didn't want them on any longer than she needed to.

Jiraiya reaches over and pulls the bandages off, wrapping them on his arm for the time being. "There, you good?"

Yasuko cracks a small smile and nods her head as she looks ahead, making sure to avert her eyes from the gates and anything beyond it. "I'm fine."

::

Two men sitting near the village gates under a shaded area, stare in a mix of surprise and awe as Naruto, Jiraiya, and Yasuko walk past them and into the village.

"Hey now, is that who I think it is?" Asks Kotetzu with a chuckle.

"Uh huh." Izumo Replies with a smile. "No doubt about it." His smile slowly drops as his eyes focus on the girl with them, wondering as to why she's following after the other two.

"You're wondering the same thing, huh?" Notes Kotetzu, eyes sharp. "What do you think is going on?"

Izumo narrows his eyes slightly before sighing. "I don't know, but I'm sure if Master Jiraiya is dealing with whatever is going on then there shouldn't be a problem." He says, returning to sorting out the papers for the Hokage that would be picked up in a short while. "Probably nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I hope you're right." Kotetzu muses, continuing to keep watch of the gate.

::

She was literally just staring at her feet at this point, but she still followed after them without a problem.

She successfully managed to weave her way through the village despite being completely unaware of her surroundings and the ever changing environment of people dodging past one another.

She didn't bump into anything or anyone even once.

Jiraiya didn't know how he felt about that. It only really furthered his suspicions from before rather than ease them, but he decided he'd rather worry more about it in the hokage's office than standing in the middle of the village.

Yasuko walks up to their sides. Ever since she figured out that some of her visions were actually about the future, it had been constantly bothering her. She didn't know how to confirm it at first, but as they were walking through the gates the answer came to her on it's own in the form of two men sitting guard at the entrance. Or their words at least.

She spares a quick glance ahead, making sure to keep eyes from darting around too much as she searches for the next designated area. The large pole.

She glances back down again and waits patiently for Naruto's expected reaction and just as she had seen in her vision, he runs up to the pole and climbs it, standing at the top proudly.

Yasuko only watches as yet another instance is confirmed. She glances at Jiraiya quickly- not even caring about the headaches she'll have if she even so much as glances behind him- and waits for the words she knows will already escape his lips.

"Always rambunctious." She says, just as he does.

::

Jiraiya stills and turns, staring at her with wide eyes.

Yasuko laughs in disbelief. "You really did say it."

"What?" Is all Jiraiya can utter in that moment, because he has no idea what's going on in her head and why she's laughing nor how she managed to say the exact same thing as him at the exact same time because he honestly doubts that it was just a coincidence and he has his reasons. Plenty of them.

"Always rambunctious." Yasuko repeats. "You said exactly what I saw in that vision."

Jiraiya narrows his eyes. "Your visions?" He questions. "You mean the ones that allow you to see the _past_?"

Yasuko opens her mouth to speak again only to close it as she realizes that she never mentioned her other dreams. She had only mentioned the man with the rippled eyes.

"You know, I'm starting to realize that I forgot to mention a few things." She admits.

"Oh, really?" Mocks Jiraiya. He runs a hand over his hair. "So, what are you trying to say? That now you can see the future too?" He drops his hand and instead drags it down across his face as he shakes his head. "You see, this is why I told you both to stop with the storytelling so we could talk about the important stuff, but nope." He mutters to himself. "Honestly. I can't believe I listened to either of you."

Yasuko rubs the back of her neck nervously. "Well, to be fair, you did easily fall for Naruto's bribe and- " She stops and furrows her brow as a wave of uneasiness washes over her. "She has… pink hair." And she thought blue was strange.

Jiraiya blinks. "Uh… " He glances to the side and back confused. "Are you okay?" He asks, genuinely concerned. He knew that he was missing something, but he had no idea what.

"No, no, no." Yasuko presses her hand against her head. "I can't stay here or else when they show up, I'll just end up at something near the equivalent state of death from headaches, if not death itself." She was talking to herself at this point. Her head was working faster than her mouth was and she was explaining nothing but making perfect sense. Something about the mention of dying didn't sit too tight with her though.

Jiraiya waves his arms in exasperation. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Yasuko shakes her head and pushes that strange feeling off to the side as she looks up at him with an almost pained expression. "You don't want to know how much those headaches hurt."

"I don't even know what you're trying to say!"

"Naruto!" Calls a voice.

Jiraiya turns his head towards the voice calling from the distance

Yasuko doesn't turn, but her blood runs cold. "Oh, no." She already knows and so she quickly moved behind Jiraiya, not even worrying this time about how abnormally quick she was moving. "What ever you do, don't move." She tells him. "I am not going through that torture again."

Jiraiya turns around, puzzled. "Torture?"

"I said don't move!"

But it's too late. She sees the head of pink hair standing a few feet behind Jiraiya and she sees the three kids trailing after said head.

And just as Naruto leaps down from the pole to talk with Sakura, her head erupts in a myriad of pain.

* * *

Sixth chapter done!

Days of being stuck with each other, but also bonding bring people closer together and basically in this instance it sort of brought the three traveling dorks closer together which explains Yasuko's much more laid back behavior around those two. Plus, she trusts them a lot more than they think. After all, she feels as though she knows them personally because, in a way, she kind of does. But they're only just getting to know her.

Anyway, in case it wasn't clear, that basically sort of explains why Yasuko is kind of easy going around Naruto and Jiraiya now. She feels safe and comfortable around them because she knows them, well sort of knows them. You get what I mean, right? ^_^;

Other than that,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7: Catalyst

:: :: ::

 _"Always acting like a fool who only knows one thing… Hokage, Hokage. I'm sorry Naruto… that impossible dream of yours… I don't want to see it crushed!"_

…..

 _"I've always considered myself to be a true ninja… but those were just empty words, because Sasuke and Naruto were always in the lead! But now it's my turn to take the lead, and all of you can watch me from the background!"_

...

 _Sakura clutches her trembling hands against her chest tightly, tears streaming down her face. "I… I love you with all my heart! If you were to stay here with me, there would be no regrets… because every day we'd do something fun, we'd be happy I swear! I would do anything for you! So… please just stay with me!"  
_

 _Sakura stands in front of Tsunade's desk with a new level of determination. "I have a favor to ask you." She says._

 _Tsunade places her pencil down and looks up. "What is it?"_

 _She gulps, but the fire in her eyes doesn't waver. "Please make me your apprentice!"  
_

:: :: ::

"Prepare my funeral." Yasuko rasps, dropping to the ground on her knees.

Jiraiya watches her with furrowed brows. "Uh, a little overdramatic, don't you think?"

She slowly shakes her clutched head in response. "Nope." She says through tightly clenched teeth.

He blinks and glances at the four standing behind him as the sudden realization hits him. "Oh... _oh_." He covers his mouth with one hand and sighs. "Well, this is bad."

:: :: ::

 _"Everyone, whenever they see me or call me, they only see me as the grandson of the Hokage. Nobody recognizes me as myself." Konohamaru kicks at the dirt in frustration. "I'm sick of it already! That's why I want the Hokage name right now!"_

.….

 _"From now on, we're rivals!"_

...

 _He messily wipes at the tears streaking his face and stares back at the large, red, swirling gravestone monument. "Grandpa... "_

:: :: ::

Naruto twists his head around curiously and follows Sakura's gaze as she glances behind him. "What are you- pervy sage! You let it happen again?!" He shouts in disbelief, following after Sakura as she rushes over quickly.

Sakura spares a quick glance back at him, puzzled by his words, before kneeling down in front of Yasuko. "Hey, are you alright?" Sakura asks, tilting Yasuko's head up.

"She, uh, she has a bit of a headache?" Jiraiya answers, a bit uncertain as he scratches the back of his head absentmindedly. He didn't know how else to describe it anyway and it was true that it was a headache, so it wasn't like he was lying either.

"It feels more like my skull is splitting in half, but ok." Yasuko says through still tightly clenched teeth, trying not to make it come off too harshly, but failing miserably.

Sakura nods, her hand immediately being enveloped in a soft green glow as she hovers it above Yasuko's forehead. "Ok, don't worry. This'll be over in a minute."

Yasuko really hoped it would be.

:: :: ::

 _Moegi curiously glances down at the village below as large clouds of black smoke suddenly begin popping up throughout the village. "Konohamaru, Udon, what do you guys think is happening down there?"_

...

 _"Naruto!" She calls breathlessly, having just run up a large flight of stairs. "It's Konohamaru. He's barricaded himself in the Hokage tower."_

...  
 _  
Moegi grins proudly. "I'm going to become a great kunoichi just like you, Temari!"_

:: :: ::

"Almost done." Sakura says.

:: :: ::  
 _  
Udon watches with unease as black clouds of smoke throughout the village start to dissipate only for others to appear in another part of the village. "I'm not getting a good feeling about this... "_

...

 _He rubs him arm nervously as he tells Naruto about Konohamaru's current status in the hokage's office "We tried talking to him but... "_

...

 _"I don't think we should be doing this... "_

:: :: ::

Sakura lowers her arm as the chakra enveloping her hand fades away. "How is it now?" She asks.

Yasuko cracks an eye open and hesitantly looks up, blinking in surprise as no pain accompanies her as her onyx eyes meet emerald ones. She takes a chance and glances behind Sakura at the three who had tagged along with her- Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon as she recalled from her visions. Her gaze drifts towards the ground. And then she laughs quietly.

Sakura does a double take and looks back at Naruto quickly who only shrugs his shoulders in response.

"Hey, no creepy laughing." Scolds Jiraiya.

Yasuko looks up at him. "This whole situation is creepy." She tells him with a weak chuckle. "I shouldn't even be awake and you know it." She furrows her brows and turns back to Sakura, pointing at her hands. "What was it that you did before?" It seemed oddly familiar to her.

Sakura blinks. "Oh." She raises her arm in front of her and releases a stream of chakra that encases her hand in a soft green glow. "I just used some medical ninjutsu to help ease your headache."

:: :: ::

 _Medical ninjutsu is a branch of ninjutsu associated with healing, as well as the manipulation of their own, or another's body, practised by shinobi categorised as medical-nin._

…..

 _The use of medical ninjutsu requires very advanced chakra control, as well as extensive knowledge on such things as herbs, medicines, the human body and even poisons._

…..

 _The knowledge of medical ninjutsu can be used for a variety of purposes apart from simply healing. It can be used to create poisonous gas, deranging the target's nervous system, or directly attacking a target with chakra scalpels._

:: :: ::

Yasuko's eyes suddenly scrunch together as the front of her head starts to ache.

Sakura dissipates her chakra and drops her hand as she tilts her head slightly. "Um, did… did I say something wrong?" She asks, puzzled.

"No." Yasuko says. "I just have a headache."

Sakura's eyes widen in worry. "Another one?"

"It's normal."

"It's really not."

"Apparently, for her it is." Jiraiya inputs, but he doesn't say why she's having them.

Sakura narrows her eyes in thought. "You wouldn't mind if I took her in to the hospital for a check up would you?" She asks, glancing up at Jiraiya.

Naruto looks at Jiraiya, panic crossing his face as he waits for Jiraiya's response.

Jiraiya chuckles nervously. "Uh, how about you do that after we meet with Tsunade, huh?"

Naruto slaps his hand against his forehead at Jiraiya's slip up. "Pervy sage!"

:: :: ::

 _Tsunade beams at her little brother. "Nawaki, happy twelvth birthday!" She cheers, handing him a wrapped gift._

 _Nawaki pulls the wrapping off and opens the box inside. His eyes light up as the blue crystal inside glistens in the sunlight. He glances up at Tsunade in awe. "Big sister, could this be?"_

 _Tsunade smiles at him. "Yeah, it's the First Hokage's, our grandfather's necklace!"_

 _Nawaki runs up to her and envelopes her in a hug. "I love you, big sister!"_

…..

 _"Becoming Hokage is my dream!" Nawaki says as he looks up toward the stone faces with a grin._

 _Tsunade smiles softly. "Take off your headband, Nawaki."_

 _"Huh?" Nawaki blurts, turning towards Tsunade with furrowed brows. He takes his headband off regardless. "Ok, but wh-"_

 _Tsunade places a kiss on Nawaki's forehead._

 _They both smile before bursting into laughter._

…..

 _A dark sky pours a heavy rain down on the village below._

 _Tsunade rushes into a building soaked and out of breath. Her eyes scan the interior and she walks forward towards the rushing medics._

 _Jiraiya sees her and stops her from going inside any further. He places a hand on her shoulder and gives a sympathetic look._

 _"It's because we're at war." Says a pale- skinned man, pulling something out of his shirt. He holds the necklace that Tsunade gave to Nawaki for his birthday, only now it's blue color is stained with red._

 _Jiraiya sighs. "Orochimaru... "_

 _Tsunade gives a shaky breath before dropping to her knees and breaking down in tears._

…..

 _Tsunade stands in front of a new grave with glossy eyes, staring at the necklace in her palm._

 _'Not just this necklace... ' Rings Nawaki's voice._

 _A teardrop falls onto the crystal and Tsunade clenches her hand around the gem tightly._

 _'This village is grandfather's treasure! I'm going to protect it!'_

…..

 _He stares down at the river below solemnly. "Fighting and losing cherished people is not the only way for a shinobi."_

 _Tsunade watches knowingly and listens as he continues._

 _"I'm living in a world of shinobi where death always hovers. I want to risk my life to bring this war torn world under control." He looks up towards the stone faces carved in the mountain. "Becoming Hokage is my dream."_

 _"Becoming Hokage is my dream!" Nawaki says as he looks up at the stone faces with a grin._

 _Tsunade clenches her hand tightly around the crystal on her necklace at the recurring memory. "Dan... " She leans forward and places a kiss on Dan's forehead, because she hoped this time that dream of theirs would become a reality._

…..

 _Tsunade hovers her shaking hands over the wound on Dan's abdomen and starts healing it. "Hang on, Dan!" She says, trying to keep her tears from falling._

 _Dan stares up at the dark, rainy sky. "Tsunade... " He calls. "I don't want... to die yet." He murmers._

 _"It'll be okay." She tries to reassure. "I stopped the bleeding, so it'll be okay. You'll be saved, Dan!"_

 _"Really?" Dan's eyes flutter close as his lips turn up in a small smile. "Thank goodness... "_

 _Tsunade's eyes widen in fear and she pushes more chakra into her palms. "Dan, hang on! Dan!" Tsunade shouts, tears in her eyes._

 _One of two of her other comrades beside her rest their hands on her shoulders. "It's too late." They tell her sadly._

 _Tsunade's breath hitches and she leans back on her feet defeated. She brings her shaking hands up to her face slowly, screaming in terror at the sight of Dan's blood coating her skin._

…..

 _History had repeated itself- this time with a twist that no one had asked for._

…..  
 _  
"I, Hanzou, bestow the title of the Sannin of the Hidden Leaf upon you."_

…..

 _"Jiraiya, are you the one who taught him the Rasengan? Are you acting like a teacher by teaching him something he can't master? Don't give him any ideas! That's why this kid likes to daydream that he's going to become Hokage someday."_

…..

 _"That is because... I am... the Leaf Village's... Fifth Hokage!" The diamond on Tsunade's forehead disappears and is replaced by black markings that stretch across her forehead. Her wounds immediately start healing themself._

…..

 _"It's because to be Hokage… is your dream… isn't it, Naruto? One last time… just one last time… I place the odds on you."_

…..  
 _  
Tsunade flicks Naruto's forehead protector off of him and kisses his forhead, passing on the memory of a dream to become Hokage from her brother and her first lover to him._

:: :: ::

Jiriaya clicks his tongue and raises his hands apologetically. "My bad."

Yasuko cranes her neck in Jiraiya's direction slowly. She stares at him for a few moments intently. "You're not doing it on purpose, are you?" She questions suspiciously, because it honestly felt like he was toying with her. Maybe this was how he was getting his 'vengeance' at what she had asked the day or so before.

He rolls his eyes. "Really? Have you so little faith in me?"

Yasuko raises an eyebrow in skepticism.

Jiraiya turns on his heel and walks away. "That's it. I'm leaving."

"You can't just leave!" Shouts Naruto.

"Master Jiraiya, you can't just leave." Sakura says more calmly, pushing herself up off the ground. She offers Yasuko a hand.

Jiraiya groans in annoyance and walks back. He claps his hands and waves everyone up. "Alright, let's go."

Yasuko accepts Sakura's help and as soon as she's pulled up, she wipes the dirt off the back of her clothes. "Where are we going again?" She asks, unsure if they were heading to the Hokage or the hospital anymore.

Jiraiya turns and continues down the road. "To the Hokage's office."

::

Yasuko hangs a few steps back behind Jiraiya, Naruto, Sakura, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon as they all head towards the Hokage tower. She continues to avoid glancing too much around the village and opts to keep her head down for the majority of the walk.

Jiraiya slows his pace until he's walking beside her. "Still taking precautions, I see."

Yasuko chuckles lightly and shrugs her shoulders. "Well, better safe than sorry, I guess."

Jiraiya laughs and nods his head knowingly. "Just make sure you're not hurting yourself in the process."

She blinks in confusion and spares a glance up at him. "What do you mean?"

He points at his neck. "You're neck will be stuck pointing downward if you keep that act up for too long."

Yasuko nods her head. "Ah, good point." She notes, rolling her neck back and to the sides. She pauses as a section of her hair falls in front of her eyes. "Blue hair, huh." She murmurs, eyes darting towards Sakura- more specifically her pink hair.

Yasuko shrugs her shoulders and tucks the section of hair behind her ears. "Well, I guess it's not as strange as I thought."

Jiraiya laughs again, this time shaking his head. "Kid, I think your obsession with hair color is getting out of hand."

She chuckles softly before glancing back down towards the ground in thought. "It just… doesn't seem normal to me, y'know." And she couldn't explain why, but to her it just made complete sense.

Jiraiya turns to her with a straight face. "Believe it or not, I don't know."

Yasuko glances at him and bursts into laughter. "You know what I mean."

Jiraiya smiles. "Maybe I do." It was starting to become clear to him that his suspicions about Yasuko could end up being wrong and really, he was perfectly fine with that. Happy with it even.

He didn't know what he'd have to do if she ended up being their enemy and honestly he didn't even want to think about it either.

::

"Oh, oh, Naruto!" Beams Konohamaru, jogging a few steps ahead and looking back towards them. "Check this out!" He forms his hands into a seal and suddenly a puff of smoke appears. When it clears, it reveals Konohamaru in a female form.

Sakura gasps and steps back slightly revolted while Jiriaya grins and leans forward suddenly interested.

Yasuko shakes her head and sighs, but she can't help but notice that there was something different about the situation.

Konohamaru transforms back and grins. "So, what do you think? Not too bad in the curves department huh?"

And it was like a sense of deja vu, because Yasuko could've sworn that this exact scenario had already happened once before- albeit a bit differently.

Naruto chuckles softly.

Konohamaru blinks in puzzlement. "Huh?"

"Konohamaru, I'm not that scrawny little kid anymore." Naruto tells him. "And you shouldn't be using jutsu like that either. It's beneath you." He smiles before balling his hand into a fist. "I mean come on, Konohamaru! Is that all you've got?! Now step aside and get and load of my grand spanking new pervy ninjutsu!"

And then it suddenly hits her and she remembers exactly where she's seen this before, so she decides to take a few steps backwards in preparation of what would most likely take place next.

Naruto starts forming his hands into a seal. "Here we go!"

Jiraiya glances back towards Yasuko curiously when he notices that she's not standing beside him anymore. "Why did you step ba- "

"Are you kidding me?!" Shouts Sakura as she punches Naruto, sending him face first into the ground, a small crater surrounding the impact site.

Jiraiya stills and Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi crowd around him in fear while Yasuko watches from behind a pole.

Sakura marches over and pulls Naruto up by the leg, flipping him back up and then grabbing him by the collar of his jacket. "What the heck is wrong with you, you pervy little doofus?!" She snaps in frustration. "We haven't seen each other for over two years and when we finally start to catch up you have the nerve to go and pull a stunt like that!? Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?! Do you?! I don't... "

Jiraiya stares at the two blank faces before cracking a nervous smile. "Oh." And he's suddenly reminded of his conversation with Yasuko earlier about her potentially being able to see into the future. "So, why didn't you warn me?" He asks her, wincing as he watches Naruto slam into the ground after Sakura let's go of him.

Yasuko slowly walks out of her spot and heads back towards Jiraiya, rubbing her arm sheepishly. "I, uh, forgot?" She offers with a weak chuckle. She looks up at him and attempts at hiding her incoming smirk as something comes to mind. "But I mean it's not like it's something you haven't seen before, right?"

Jiraiya raises an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?" He questions, sighing as Sakura has to pick Naruto up only for him to drop again as soon as she let's go.

Yasuko shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. "I dont know. Just that maybe she seems like a Tsunade junior?" She says, finally letting the smirk cross her features.

Jiraiya's eyes suddenly widen like saucers. "Wha- how'd you- " He sputters, snapping his head towards her. "Wipe that smirk off your face!"

Yasuko throws her head back and bursts into another fit of laughter. She supposed it wasn't all that bad having these strange abilities.

Meanwhile, Sakura crosses her arms and stares down at a defeated Naruto. "What was that?!"

::

With Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon heading off to start their training, Naruto, Sakura, Jiraiya, and Yasuko continue on their way towards the hokage tower.

"So, how'd you all meet?" Wonders Sakura, glancing at the three in question. She blinks and turns to Yasuko. "Oh, I never even asked your name." She runs the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

Yasuko shakes her head. "It's fine." She says with a small smile. "My name is Yasuko."

"Mine is Sakura." She beams. "So, how'd you end up meeting these two?"

Yasuko blinks and looks away nervously as she rubs her arm. "Well, I… " She quickly glances over at Jiriaya who subtly shakes his head and motions towards the hokage tower. "It's kind of a long story." She says rather quietly.

"That's why we're heading over to Grandma Tsunade to talk about it." Adds Naruto.

"Oh." Sakura realizes. "It must be pretty important then, huh?" She chuckles.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Yasuko glances over at Sakura and offers her a smile. "You'll be there too right Sakura?" She supposed it'd be better if she was with them in case her headaches appeared again. That and because she was one of the closest people to both Naruto and Tsunade, she was bound to figure it out anyway. Yasuko knew full well just how perceptive Sakura was and she had her strange ability to thank for that.

Sakura glances back at the gently folded papers in her pouch. "Well, I do have some notes I have to hand to Lady Tsunade." She muses.

Yasuko beams. "Perfect."

Jiraiya watches in silence as the three teenagers delve into another conversation. He was curious as to why Yasuko was so adamant on getting Sakura into the hokage tower and staying there, but he doesn't ask because they were just about there anyway.

::

Yasuko follows after the three and into the hokage tower, rubbing her wrists nervously. The place seemed both foreign but familiar to her and she couldn't quite put her finger on why that was. But that wasn't the only thing on her mind.

She wanted to know what would happen to her after they told Tsunade the situation. Would they help her? Heal her? Or would they lock her away?

She didn't want to think about the latter, but she knew it was a possibility. As far as she was concerned, she was probably a part of some bandit group like Menma was. Or maybe she was a part of the Akatsuki like Jiraiya had thought. She didn't know.

And if she was being honest, she didn't know if she wanted to find out anymore either.

They all suddenly stop and Yasuko- too caught up in thought- almost slams into Naruto's back, but manages to stop herself just in time.

Jiraiya knocks on the door.

"Come in." Calls a voice from inside the room.

He reaches for the doorknob, glancing towards Yasuko before he opens the door. "Ready, kid?"

Yasuko gulps and nods her head. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"That's the spirit!" He laughs. And then he swings the door open with a grin. "We're back!" He sings.

Naruto jumps in front of Jiraiya with an even bigger grin. "Did you miss us?"

Sakura shakes her head and sighs as she pulls Yasuko off to the side. "Cover your ears." She tells her as she covers her own.

Yasuko does so without question, but she was still a bit curious as to why she had to in the first place.

From within the office, Tsunade suddenly snaps up from her chair and slams her hands onto her desk, slightly fracturing the smooth wood on top. "Is that any way to walk into my office?!" She juts a finger towards the two males. "Shut the door and try again!"

Yasuko got her answer.

::

"Much better." Smiles Tsunade as Jiraiya and Naruto walk into her office like civilized human beings. "See, that wasn't so hard now was it."

Naruto crosses his arms with a pout. "You always gotta take the fun of everything, grandma."

Tsunade crosses her arms. "I know how to have fun, Naruto, and what you two did was more chaotic that it was fun."

"That's a bit exaggerated, don't you think?" Chuckles Jiraiya.

Tsunade stares at him unamused.

"Yeah, okay, fine." Jiriaya mutters. He glances back at the door where a nervous Yasuko stands. "I thought you said you were ready." He laughs lightly.

Yasuko's eyes suddenly drift towards the floor before she finally walks inside behind him.

Tsunade narrows her eyes warily at the newcomer. "And who would that be?" She questions, turning to Jiraiya for an answer. "You can't just pick up random people off the streets and bring them into the village, Jiraiya."

"Technically, we picked her out of a forest." Jiraiya corrects.

"That's not my point."

Jiraiya laughs. "Ok, alright." He glances back at the previously shut door as someone suddenly walks in, a pig in their hands.

"Oh, Master Jiraiya, Naruto." The person calls, eyes lighting up upon seeing them. "It's been so long."

Yasuko knows without a doubt that she had heard that voice before.

"Ah, Shizune." Tsunade says. "You're back."

And in that moment, it was like someone had smashed a vase against the back of her head.

:: :: ::

 _Shizune stares down at ground in front "Uncle Dan... "_

…..

 _"Let's go Shizune."_

 _"Right, Lady Tsunade."_

…..

 _"The gambling needs to stop. We have no more money Lady Tsunade."_

…..

 _"Lady Tsunade! You can't! Don't listen to the offers of these liars. Your brother and my uncle wouldn't want you to do this either!"_

…..

 _"Lady Tsunade, enough!"_

 _"Just one more bottle."_

 _"No!"_

:: :: ::

Yasuko honestly didn't understand why she had to suffer everytime she attained visions. It made no sense. Was getting her real memory back also going to become a painful encounter? She didn't even want to know.

Jiraiya snaps his head back towards Tsunade. "No!" He glances back at Yasuko quickly and sighs as she groans and slowly slides onto the floor. "Sakura, do me a favor here." He says, waving a hand towards the fallen child.

Sakura looks over towards him confused. "For what?" She follows his hand and blinks at the slumpen form of Yasuko down on the ground. "Again?!" She worries, rushing over. "But how?" She queries, looking up at Jiraiya for an answer.

Jiraiya's eyes dart around the room as he tries to come up with a quick excuse. "Uh, well, she- "

Suddenly, Shizune rushes over as well, placing Tonton down on the ground beside her. "What happened? Who is she?"

"I don't know what happened." Answers Sakura, already starting up her medical ninjutsu and attempting to ease Yasuko's pain. "Earlier, she said she was having headaches, but I didn't know that they could get this bad for her otherwise I would've taken her to the hospital and given her an overview right then."

"So you don't know why she's been having them?"

Sakura glances up at Jiraiya for an answer.

Yasuko blinks slowly at the two people in front of her, trying to make out their faces from her suddenly muddled vision. She could easily pick out Sakura's pink hair and green eyes, but she couldn't tell who the person next to her was. She could only assume it was the person referred to as 'Shizune.'

"Would someone like to explain what the hell is going on?" Demands Tsunade.

Naruto glances around desperately and upon spotting Tonton, points at her. "Yasuko's allergic to pigs!"

"Naruto!" Scolds Jiraiya.

"I panicked!"

"Tonton wasn't even with us earlier." Sakura points out.

:: :: ::

 _"Oink!"_

:: :: ::

Yasuko clutches her head tightly. "Stop… talking... please." She says through gritted teeth.

"Alright, everyone be quiet!" Shouts Shizune, slamming the door behind her shut.

The room grows deathly silent.

Yasuko lets out a small sigh of relief as the tight and around her head seems to loosen.

"Thank you, Shizune." Tsunade says, standing up. She walks over towards the two other medics and kneels down. Her hand suddenly glows green and she hovers it over Yasuko's head.

Jiraiya watches and stretches a hand over nervously as his view is obstructed. "Uh, I wouldn't- "

"Jiraiya, you either explain who this is or you stop talking until I'm done."

He drops his hand in silence.

Tsunade sighs. "So you're not going to explain then?"

"I'll explain when you're done."

Sakura glances between the two before glancing down at Yasuko. "I'll take her to the hospital after this."

"I'll come with." Says Naruto.

Yasuko shakes her head as she realizes what that would mean. "They're staying." She argues. "I'm… staying." She shakily brings her hand up to her face and wipes at her forehead. "Until… until they're… done." Besides, she had a feeling that she would hate it there. In that hospital. Just the word made her want to scream. But she can barely voice her concerns. It took all she had just to say those other few words.

Tsunade narrows her eyes in annoyance as she has to change her healing method, not missing the quick, concerned glance from a set of green eyes.

"Stubborn one, isn't she?" Tsunade deadpans.

Jiraiya chuckles nervously. "She can be, yeah."

Yasuko blinks as her visions suddenly starts growing dark around the edges. Her eyelids grow heavy and her head suddenly feels much lighter, but it isn't like before. This time she feels much more at ease, because this time the feeling is somewhat purposeful.

Jiraiya watches as Tsunade starts to stand up. "So did you heal her?" He asks, peeking around Tsunade's figure.

"Sakura already handled most of that." Tsunade explains, nodding her head towards Sakura in acknowledgment. She places a hand on her hip, before sighing and walking back to her desk. "I just did what else had to be done."

Jiraiya and Naruto blink at the soundly asleep Yasuko layed on the ground.

"Wait, you knocked her out?!"

"What the heck, Grandma?!"

"Oh, shut it you two!"

::

Sakura places Yasuko's head down on the ground gently but remains crouched by her side. She stares down at her reflection in the tile, eyes narrowed slightly. "I know… " She pauses, trying to remember the girl's name as its suddenly slipped her mind. "I know Yasuko mentioned that she didn't want to go to the hospital, but I think we should still take her there, shouldn't we?" She says, glancing up at the adult who had brought her into the village in the first place.

Jiraiya shakes his head. "I don't know. She seemed really intent on keeping you two here." He muses, arms crossed and eye furrowed in thought. He didn't forget how insistent Yasuko was earlier about making sure Sakura was there with them all while they talked about her predicament, nor did he forget her words from just a few moments ago. He didn't fully get it yet, but he supposed there was a reason for it and he hoped it was a good one.

"You can take her afterwards." He finally decides, turning towards the front desk. "We have a few other things we need to go over before then." And he supposed there was no harm in Yasuko staying either. She was unconscious after all.

"Ah, so you're finally going to explain where the kid came from, huh?" Jests Tsunade. She narrows her eyes. "I want a real answer this time."

Jiraiya offers a dry chuckle. "I wasn't kidding when I said we found her in a forest."

Tsunade turns to Naruto who only raises his hands up in defense.

"It's true, y'know."

She falls back into her seat with a sigh. "Unbelievable." She mutters. "So you just decided to bring her here? You can't just bring random people into the village without the proper clearance. Jiraiya, you know this already."

Jiraiya scoffs and crosses his arms. "You know, I came her to have a nice talk after being away for so long, but honestly I'm feeling so attacked right now."

"Jiraiya."

"Alright, alright." He says, cracking a nervous smile. His smile slowly drops and he furrows his brows as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand. "Where to start… "

"How about from the beginning?" Tsunade offers sarcastically.

Jiraiya snaps his fingers and smiles. "Right, thank you." He says. "The beginning."

Naruto gulps as it all comes back to him and tears his gaze away from the two older people in the room.

Jiraiya stretches back before standing and running through a flurry of hand signs.

Tsunade narrows her eyes. "For?" She questions.

"What's said here, stays here." He replies, waiting for the indication that the seals have activated. He turns to Naruto and Sakura. "Understand?"

They both nod their heads albeit hesitantly. "Understood."

"Good." Jiraiya offers them a small smile before simply standing to one side and crossing his arms, his smile gone. "So, you asked for the beginning?"

"I did." Tsunade says carefully.

"Alright." Jiraiya nods knowingly before shrugging his shoulders. "To put it simply, let's just say that it all started when we found her surrounded by slaughtered rogue ninja."

* * *

Chapter seven done!

Yeah, I cut off a lot of the reunion part and a huge- ish chunk of the original chapter- mostly the 'what if she throws a desk at me' part and some of the aftermath of it- because it just didn't fit with the "mood" of the chapter anymore. But I added some other parts because they help with character development and that stuff.

A lot of these chapters are similar to past one, just that they've either been extended with new content, smashed together, or have many discarded parts so I don't know what's going on. That's a weird thing to say seeing as how I probably should know what I'm writing about, but apparently that's not how my brain chooses to function. Must be a designer flaw.

Writing is hard, dude. (I use dude as a gender neutral thing, so I'm referring to all you humans big and small. Animals too if they want to be included. And plants too, why not. If you have matter, then you're included, because you matter too. Ignore my science jokes. They're horrible.)

Also, I'm nearing the last point where I've caught up with what I've rewritten so far, so updates might be far between a bit instead of weekly like now. Sorry about that. I hope I finish this story too though! T^T

Other than that,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8: Death

:: ::

"You don't know how strange it is to watch as you succumb to the silence so quickly." He says solemnly. "When you barely hesitate to relish in the absence of sound and the retreating pain almost as if you're grateful for it, it's concerning to witness.

"You don't know how strange it is to watch because you don't know that the feeling you're so grateful for is also earily similar to the feeling one obtains when their life starts to slip away.

"You don't know how strange it is because you don't know yet that once a upon a time ago you used to dread that feeling.

"That feeling...

"Did you know… ?

"That you used to fear death… "

::

It takes a few moments for Jiraiya's words to sink in.

Sakura almost stumbles back once it finally registers. Naruto only rests his hand at the back of his neck bitterly as he wonders why his mentor couldn't at least soften the blow even a little bit. Shizune's eyes simply widen and she blinks blankly at Jiraiya before searching for Tsunade's reaction.

Tsunade is barely fazed, but she raises an eyebrow questioningly as her eyes dart over to Yasuko. "So, what are you saying?" She asks, turning back to Jiraiya. "That you brought a traumatized child back to the village instead of back to her family?" They weren't her shinobi or any of her allies as far as she was concerned so it didn't really concern her, as harsh as it seemed. Rogue ninja lost all ties to their village the moment they defected, they knew that.

"Hey, ok, hold on." Jiraiya says calmly, waving his hands in front of him as if he's patting the air to calm it as well. "I'm getting to that part." He rests a hand at his hip and continues again. "Like I said, we found her by some slaughtered rogue ninja." He shrugs his shoulders. "Nothing unusual about that, right?" He jokes nervously.

The room is deadly quiet.

"Yeah, wrong time, got it." He rubs at the back of his neck sheepishly. "Anyway, as it was mentioned before, she's a bit traumatized which I'll get to later."

"Stop stalling."

"Psh, I am not stalling."

"Then start explaining."

Jiraiya sighs exasperated. "You know, if it was so easy to explain it then I would've done so already, but as far as I'm concerned there is no easy way and has never been an easy way to explain that the kid has amnesia and can also apparently see into someone's past just by hearing their name or looking at them." He looks up at Tsunade and blinks. "I mean, unless you have the answer. I'm all ears if you do."

"Jiraiya… what the hell?"

::

"Of course, it's common to fear death. But Yasuko, I'll clarify something for you.

"You see, the difference with you…

"Is that you used to tremble before it."

::

Jiraiya blinks again. "What? You think I'm joking?"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish I was."

Tsunade drops her head between her propped up arms. "Jiraiya, " She didn't doubt him, but she didn't believe it all either. Seeing into someone's past? Yeah, as if that was really possible without some sort of special jutsu. As far as she was aware only the Yamanaka were able to do that but even they had their limits. She sighs. "We have enough on our plate to deal with already." She reminds him.

"Exactly!" Jiraiya shouts causing everyone in the room besides Tsunade to jump slightly- she was used to it and more annoyed than startled. "Don't call me a genius just yet, but say we developed her ability huh? Harnessed it or something?"

"You mean use her?" Sakura suddenly blurts. "With all due respect Master Jiraiya, I'll have to disagree with your plan. After all, you said it yourself. She has amnesia and she's practically traumatized."

"It would be better if we took her to the hospital first." Adds Shizune.

"Which you are going to do." Jiraiya reassures. "Never said you wouldn't."

"And then afterwards?" Quires Sakura.

"Afterwards… " He pauses, searching for the right answer. His eyes trail up towards Tsunade and he sighs. "Afterwards comes later." He finally says. "You're right, we start by dealing with what we have now and right now I need to explain."

::

"When you fear death, you fear it only when you're near it or when you think you're near it. It doesn't occupy every aspect of your life and cloud your thoughts as it does when you tremble before it.

"No, trembling before death is a far worse fate than one could ever imagine.

"Do you want to know why?"

::

"Nine?" Tsunade asks again. "You're telling me she killed nine rogue ninja?" She points at Yasuko. "That kid did that? The one who I had to basically drug with her own brain's chemicals, she just killed people and didn't bat an eye?"

"Oh, no, she cried afterwards from what I saw." Jiraiya says. "Panicked and threw up too if that's what that gunk at the side of tree was." He adds with a wrinkle of his nose before turning to Tsunade afterwards. "I'd say that's far from 'not batting an eye' don't you?"

Tsunade drops her head and sighs before lifting it up again. "Ok, and the Sage of Six Paths?" She wonders. "What did she say about him?"

Jiraiya nods his head knowingly and crosses his arms against his chest, placing a hand beneath his chin in thought. "Yeah, I'm not too sure about that one myself. I'd have to ask someone else."

Tsunade raises an eyebrow curiously. "Like?"

"Oh, y'know." He says shrugging his shoulders. "The toad sage."

::

"Do you want to know why trembling before death is worse than fearing it?

"Well, it's simple really."

::

"He can see the future too, so it would be worth a shot." He adds.

"You mean he can see prophecies." Tsunade corrects.

Jiraiya brushes her comment off. "It surrounds the same concept, so yes."

::

"No matter how much you try to run away from it, you can never escape.

"Because death..."

::

Tsunade raises her hands up in a show of defeat. "Alright, fine." She drops her arms and places them on the desk against, propped up and fingers laced. "Sure, try asking." She says with a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. "And then you report back as soon as possible."

Jiraiya nods his head and leans to the side, hand placed on his hip. "Got it." He grins.

Tsunade resists the urge to roll her eyes at his obvious antics and leans back in her chair, glancing at Yasuko for a second before sighing and closing her eyes, arms crossed. "Good. The sooner we have answers, the sooner we can get her home." She opens one eye and looks at Naruto who's settled to staring out of the window behind her, lost in his own thoughts. "You've been awfully quiet, Naruto. Something you wanted to add?"

Naruto turns toward her quickly before scratching the back of his neck and looking away. "Not really."

"She reminds you of Menma, doesn't she?"

::

"Death is the only true destination for us all."

::

Naruto turns back to her dumbfounded. "How'd you- "

"The similarities are uncanny." She answers, eyes shut again. "It'd be obvious to anyone that remembered that incident."

He turns away. "Yeah."

::

"Do you understand now?"

::

Yasuko suddenly snaps up as if her head had been submerged in a bucket of ice, turning everyone's attention to her. She clutches at her chest tightly, gasping for breath.

"Hey, hey!" Sakura calls, trying to calm her down as soon as she senses her distress. "You're okay. You're safe." She looks up at the rest of the occupants in the room. "We need to take her to the hospital now."

Naruto is the first one to walk over and offer assistance, but he's cut off by Shizune. "I can- "

"We'll handle it." Shizune tells him, walking back over to Sakura's side.

Sakura turns back to Yasuko and peers down at her face. "Yasuko, can you tell me what's wrong?"

Yasuko starts shaking as tears well up in her eyes and slide down her cheeks.

"Yasuko- "

"I don't wanna die again."

And then she goes slack and falls into Sakura's lap, a few stray tears still making their way down her face.

::

"It will still have the same result, but you've been given a second chance.

"Do what you couldn't do before.

"Live."

::

Jiraiya's eyes widen. "Did she just say… "

"Die?" Murmurs Naruto.

"Again?"

::

"Thrive."

::

"You are the child of peace, risen from the forest.

Your name is no accident.

Neither are your abilities."

::

She's doesn't remember changing her clothing, but when she wakes up she's dressed in a thin cotton gown, the bandage on her right arm gone and the wound healed as if it was never even there. She supposed it was Sakura's doing or someone else who was able to use medical ninjutsu. Probably Shizune. Or Tsunade. Or someone else.

Yasuko carefully lifts herself up off of the bed and sits on the side quietly. She doesn't recognize her surroundings, but to be fair she couldn't see it either. Not with the large white curtain surrounding her. For some reason, she despises the curtain. She yanks it to the side, quickly pulling it back closed as the sun shining directly through the window burns her eyes. She tries again.

This time, she tilts her head downwards and opens the curtain, standing up and walking towards the window and looking down towards the streets below rather than straight ahead. Her hair did a good job of keeping most of the sun out of her eyes with how long it was.

She looks around below and realizes something as she notices that the village was covered in a warm orange glow.

It was already evening.

"Sir, you have to sit down."

"No, I'm leaving this place."

Yasuko twists around towards the voices curiously.

"You can't do that yet. You're not fully healed."

"You know damn well I'll never be fully healed."

Two men, she judged, going off the sounds of their voices. The latter was the older one.

"Now, let me leave." The older one bit out. And then she heard retreating footsteps.

Yasuko couldn't help but walk over to the door and slide it open a bit, peeking out from the small crack.

A nurse stood there in front of her door, arms raised as if he was reaching towards something, before dropping them and walking down the hall. "Sir, stop." He didn't notice her and Yasuko was relieved for that. He was giving her an uneasy feeling with that lab coat on anyway.

"Leave me alone." The older man she heard before bites out. "I'm fine."

She opens the door a little more and sticks her head out, peering down the hall towards the two traveling voices.

While she couldn't make out many features from either of the men with both of their backs turned to her, she could see that while the nurse's hair was an even shade of black, the older man's hair was black but streaked with gray signifying that he was a rather older than the other man.

"Sir, you are not fine." The nurse retorts. "Now, please come back to your room." He continues rushing after the older man, stopping and stepping back as he sees someone coming down from an adjacent hall. "Lady Haruno!"

It takes a second for the name to register with the new honorific, but once it does Yasuko simply sticks her head back in the room and shuts the door.

"Kenji, I told you that calling me 'Sakura' was fine." She heard Sakura laugh.

Kenji chuckles sheepishly. "I'm still getting used to the change."

Sakura laughs again. "That's fine. What's the matter?"

"Ah, it's Ren." Kenji tells her. "He's… he's not cooperating." A pause. "Again." He adds.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it." Says a new voice. Yasuko recognized it, but she couldn't put a face to it yet.

"Shizune will handle it." Sakura says. And then the face appeared in Yasuko's head.

"Thank you, Lady- "

"Kenji."

He laughs sheepishly. "Thank you, Sakura." And then Yasuko heard his footsteps retreat.

A few moments pass as Yasuko waits for Sakura's footsteps to retreat as well, but when she hears them again, she realizes that they were approaching closer instead.

Yasuko steps back and slides the door open as Sakura's footsteps stop in front of her door, causing Sakura to blink in surprise.

"Oh. You're up already."

Yasuko stares at the lab coat Sakura's wearing and tries not to narrow her eyes at it in distaste. It too gave her an uneasy feeling and she honestly didn't know why. She tears her eyes away and walks back over to her bed, sitting in the chair next to it.

Sakura follows after, slightly confused with Yasuko's behavior. She didn't forget what happened earlier. How could she? "Are you okay, Yasuko?" She asks.

Yasuko glances up, but turns away again as she sees that dreaded lab coat. She shuts her eyes tightly. "I'm fine." She says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." And she did feel fine. There was no headache or aching, just a weird buzzing in her head but even that was bearable because it wasn't even causing her any pain. It was an annoyance more than anything else, like a fly or mosquito buzzing around one's ear in the middle of a summer night.

Sakura pulls up another chair and sets it next at the foot of the bed, sitting down as she rests the clipboard in her hand against her legs. She rocks back in forth in her seat before stopping. "Do… do you remember what you said earlier?" She asks, hesitantly. "Back in Lady Hokage's office?"

Yasuko blinks. "Before I passed out?"

"Yeah."

She racks her brain for the answer. "Well, I said… I said that I wasn't going anywhere until everyone heard what Jiraiya had to say."

Sakura shakes her head. "No, no. After that. The second time you passed out."

Yasuko looks up at Sakura puzzled. "What… " She furrows her brows. "What second time?" She can't even be bothered with the lab coat anymore.

Sakura's eyes widen slightly. "You… don't remember?"

She shakes her head slowly. "Why?" She leans forward suddenly afraid. "What happened?" She couldn't have hurt anyone, could she? Not again.

Sakura blinks and leans back in her chair. "You don't… " It was strange. She would've thought Yasuko would be able to remember something like that given that she was conscious as well, but that didn't seem to be the case. She jots that down in her notes.

"I don't what, Sakura?" She asks desperately. "What did I do?!"

Sakura glances up quickly and presses a hand to Yasuko's shoulder as she remembers Jiraiya's words from before. "No, no, you didn't do anything." She reassures. "You didn't hurt anyone."

Yasuko stares at her with wide eyes. "Then why are you acting like that?"

"Because… " She starts, eyes lowering. "Because you told me you didn't want to die again."

Yasuko suddenly makes a strangled noise in the back of her throat as the words she tries saying cut off.

Again? She said again?

Had she really heard her right? Maybe she heard wrong. One of them heard wrong, right? You can't die twice. That was impossible.

Maybe she had said lie? Or even try? Or something else, she didn't know.

She didn't even remember when it happened. Heck, as Sakura was starting to retell the incident, she still couldn't say anything. She just stared at her as she spoke, feeling as though she was hearing a story about someone else rather than herself because she could literally not remember any of it happening. Not a single moment of it. And she was there. Apparently very conscious.

And she realized that maybe that was how everyone else felt about her when she told them about her visions. She knew it wasn't exactly the same thing, but she didn't have the mental strength to explore another theory.

"- and then you just… passed out." Sakura finishes, carefully watching for Yasuko's reaction. "You really don't remember any of that, huh?"

Yasuko shakes her head slowly before leaning back in her chair suddenly very exhausted. "What… " She starts, eyes falling to the floor. "What happened after that?" Nothing bad she hoped.

Sakura watches her for a few more seconds before shifting her gaze towards the window. "Well, Lady Tsunade, Master Jiraiya, and Naruto finished talking about their travels and about your… " She stops mid-sentence, searching for the right word. "Um, predicament… " She tries carefully. "And then Shizune and I brought you here." She says with a small wave of her hand, gesturing to the room.

Yasuko narrows her eyes and looks around the room again with unease. "Where is here, anyway?" She asks, looking back over at Sakura cautiously.

"Oh." Sakura rubs at the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I should've clarified." She drops her hand and offers Yasuko a small smile. "You're at the Hidden Leaf hospital."

And then something in Yasuko broke, and a sudden flood of emotion she couldn't fully describe ripped through her chest. It was like a mix of sadness and fear, but also anger. It wasn't directed to Sakura, no, but to that dreaded word she said.

Hospital.

But she didn't hate the word itself. She hated that she was there where the word described. She hated the place. She hated the hospital.

And she didn't know the reason as to why she hated it, but she just knew there must have been a valid reason. There had to be. You don't just hate something without a reason.

After that, it was just a blur- like she was watching herself from outside of her own body. She was pretty sure she tried jumping out of the window at least twice when going for the door didn't work, both times she was pulled back by Sakura and she may have tried pulled herself up with the white cloth surrounding her bed to try and escape from Sakura's hold, but that didn't work in her favor as the cloth only ripped from its hanging rings.

But she wasn't screaming in anger like she thought she would be.

Instead, she was crying and begging to be let go.

To be let out.

It wasn't long before she felt a sharp prick at the back of her neck, all of her previous energy seeming to be drained away in that instant.

And then time started to return to normal and Yasuko could finally see through her own eyes again.

"I'm sorry." She hears Sakura say. "I really am, but it was either this or to knock you out and you probably wouldn't have liked that, so I didn't really have a choice."

"What did you do?" Yasuko asks calmly, surprising herself with how steady her voice sounded. If it wasn't for the tear steaks on her face, one wouldn't even know that she was just crying her eyes out- for a reason she didn't even fully know yet.

Sakura stands back up straight and pats her coat down, picking the clipboard up of the floor from where she had dropped it. "I gave you a fast- acting dose of sedatives." She explains, walking back over to Yasuko. She lifts one of Yasuko's arms and raises a hand over Yasuko's palm, her hand enveloping in a green glow. "You stopped caring about your own safety after a while." She says, showing Yasuko her own palm and the few rather deep wounds from when she had pressed her hand against the metal of the window while trying to jump out. They initially were only just faint marks on her skin, but her second, more desperate attempt had caused those faint lines to turn into cuts. "Do you know why?" Sakura asks, switching from healing Yasuko's right hand to her left.

Yasuko blinks blankly. "Why what?"

"Why you reacted like that?"

The painful reminder comes back to her and she clenches her jaw and glares off to the side. She still didn't have her reason, but she knew it had something to do with her past. That was really the only explanation. Something so significant from her past that even when she had forgotten what it was, she still held that harbored anger towards it. "I don't like this place." She finally says.

"Do you know why?" Sakura asks again, placing Yasuko's now healed hand back by her side.

Yasuko shakes her head.

Sakura decides to save that bit of information for later. "Ok, well I can't exactly let you go just yet." She explains, heading towards the door. "And getting your memory back has already been decided on and there are a few ways Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya have agreed on going about it, but until then you're under my care."

A huge weight seemed to lift of off Yasuko's shoulder as she realized the meaning behind Sakura's words. "So, you guys will help me?" She asks slightly hopeful, attempting to sit halfway up albeit ultimately failing.

Sakura blinks and glances back at Yasuko with a chuckle. "Of course we'll help you, silly."

Yasuko manages to crack a small smile and drops back onto her head with a sigh. A relieved, happy sigh. "Thank you." She says, barely above a whisper.

"Of course." Sakura smiles. She starts walking out of the room. "Now, promise me you won't try leaving the room again okay? I don't want to have to leave a guard here."

"No promises." Yasuko says, still smiling. "I can't even move anyway."

Sakura laughs. "Good point. I'll be back tomorrow, so get some sleep."

Yasuko nods her head and watches as Sakura shuts the door before staring at the ceiling.

A few minutes later, she hears shouting coming from down the hall.

"Let me go you bastards!" It was the old man from before. The nurse. Kenji as she remembered, called him Ren, right?

"You're not healed yet." She hears Shizune say. "We have to get you back into your room so that you can finish healing properly."

"Don't you get it?!" Ren barks. "There's nothing you can do! Now let me out of this damned hospital! If I'm gonna die, then it'll be on my own grounds not in this place!"

Yasuko was suddenly reminded of her own apparent death and also about how much she hated this place, but even her second urge to escape was futile as she couldn't even move thanks to that cursed drug. She really hated hospitals.

Suddenly, she heard someone drop to the ground near the front of her door.

"Damn you all... " She heard Ren mutter. "What did you do?"

"It's a fast- acting sedative." Kenji explains. "A special kind." He adds. "You'll be fine tomorrow."

"Oh, giving me the special stuff, huh?" Ren mockingly chuckles. "How kind of you?"

Shizune sighs. "Try not to run away again, alright?"

He scoffs. "No promises. Not like I can move anyway."

And then their voices started to fade as they headed down the hall and presumably behind a shut door.

And Yasuko returned to the silence.

She hated hospitals and while she wanted to know why she hated them so much, she also wondered why Ren hated them so much as well.

::

It was now past nine and the hospital was mostly silent save for the beeping of a few monitors down the hall and the sounds of shuffling footsteps.

Oh, and the clock ticking in her room that was being an annoying constant reminder to how slowly time was seeming to move.

She herself couldn't move, but at this point it was mostly because she didn't want to. The drug Sakura had gave her about two hours ago had faded away for the most part, but some of its effect were still lingering. The tiredness for one, but she couldn't sleep. Her mind wouldn't let her.

She turns her head to the side and stares out of the window towards the few twinkling stars in the dark sky. She doesn't even complain when she gets the headache, but instead focuses on the vision that accompanies it.

The retake of the bell test.

She laughs out loud as the vision ends. It was a quick, soft laugh, but she really did feel a bit happier despite the situation.

But that happiness was slowly crushed as she was so painfully reminded that she still didn't understand any of it. The amnesia, the visions, the strange man in her dreams, the hatred for lab coats, and the hatred for hospitals, she didn't get any of it. And she didn't know if she wanted to anymore.

The answers she kept receiving only seemed to bring more misery than hope.

::

Yasuko stares up at the ceiling blankly and unmoving as a vision starts playing in her head.

 _Two figures wearing black cloaks with red clouds patterned on it approach the Hidden Sand village._

 _"The target is the one tails jinjuriki." Says the smaller, crouched one in a deep, husky voice._

 _The taller, blonde- haired, younger one scoffs. "I know, yeah." He says, jumping onto a large clay figure and flying over the village as he starts dropping clay bombs with a devious smile._

Yasuko stares up at the ceiling unmoving, a deep, annoyed furrow in her brow. "Damn it." She mutters.

::

Tik. Tok.

Four pairs of feet. Every few hours. There was always someone walking into the rooms checking up on the patients whether or not they really needed it.

She would always pretend she was asleep.

Tik. Tok.

Some one was crying. Another was yelling. And then the footsteps came rushing back again. There was always someone who was in pain.

She began to wish that she could take their pain away.

Tik. Tok.

Ren tried escaping again though it was a futile attempt.

She wanted to help him leave and get out of the place herself as well.

Tik. Tok.

And it repeated throughout the night until for a brief moment everyone was okay.

She was okay too.

Tik. Tok.

Yasuko didn't know when she even starting counting or paying attention to such minor things, but seeing as how it was the only thing keeping her in that bed, she decided to keep doing it.

It was also the only thing keeping her mind off of what Sakura had said.

Tik. Tok.

::

"Did you even sleep?"

"I haven't slept since yesterday evening."

"Why?"

"My head won't shut up."

Jiraiya crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow. "So you've been thinking all night?"

"Only against my will."

"About what?" He wonders, becoming slightly concerned with her behavior.

"The Akatsuki attacked the Hidden Sand last night." Yasuko says matter of factly. "They've already managed to capture the one tails jinjuriki."

Jiraiya stares at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly gaped as he tries to formulate a response.

"It's like a movie was playing in my head, y'know." She continues. "I don't know if it was real, but seeing as how everything else I've seen has been true so far, I wouldn't be that surprised if this was too." She turns her head and glances at Jiraiya, blinking at his expression. "What?"

"You just- " He sputters. "Seriously?! Do you even realize what you said?!"

Yasuko furrows her brow in confusion. "I just answered your question." She explains. "Was that not what you wanted me to do?"

"I'll be back." Jiraiya says as he leaps out of the window and disappears.

She blinks and turns from the window back to the ceiling. "What just happened?"

::

Jiraiya suddenly leaps through the window again and slides into the room. "Ok, I went over it with Tsunade and they're working on something, but until they get word from the Hidden Sand they can't do anything yet. Anything else that I need to know?" He asks Yasuko.

"I should get someone to lock that window."

"Stay focused."

"No, I'm serious."

"So am I. Now stay focused." He reminds her. "Our lives may depend on it."

Yasuko pauses and turns away from the window, sitting up in her bed as she glances at Jiraiya. "Ok. What do you want to know?"

"The identity of the ones who attacked, where they're headed, that sort of thing." He says with an impatient wave of his hands.

She nods her head. "Ok, there were two people, I don't know where they're headed exactly, and you'll have to be more specific because a lot of it has already slipped my mind."

"Two people." He murmurs in thought. "Can you be more specific?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "Are you imitating me as a way to mock me?"

"No, but continue."

Yasuko makes a point to stare at him for a few more seconds before looking up in thought. "Black cloaks, red clouds." She lists off. She furrows her brow. "One of them was kind of slouched or something and the other had blonde hair and used a lot of clay bombs I think." She shrugs her shoulders. "That's all I could really see description wise. I don't know how else to explain it really."

Jiraiya nods his head. "Yep, sounds a lot like Deidara of the Hidden Stone."

::

 _Rogue ninja_

…..

 _Kekkei Genkai: Explosion release_

…..

 _Currently an active member of the Akatsuki_

::

"Yeah, you're right." She confirms, shutting her eyes tightly as she waits for the pain in her head to pass.

"But what about the other member… " He murmurs in thought.

Yasuko sighs. "I think I have an idea on who the other member is." She admits, waiting for the second round of pain to dissipate as she's reminded of the visions she had earlier that week in the forest.

::

 _Sasori of the Hidden Sand/ Sasori of the Red Sand_

…..

 _Human puppets_

…..

 _Currently an active member of the Akatsuki_

::

"Really?" Gasps Jiraiya. "Well, who is it?"

Yasuko presses a hand to her temple. "Um, Sasori I think."

Jiraiya snaps his fingers. "Of course." He realizes, glaring towards the ground. "A former member of the Hidden Sand, makes sense." He glances back up at Yasuko. "Anything else?"

Yasuko racks her brain for an answer. "I don't think so." And through the dull aching in her head, she didn't think she'd find one anytime soon either. Not until the pain faded anyway.

"Ok, then." He says heading for the window. "I'll be back!" And then he jumps out.

"I'm locking that window."

::

A few minutes later, something crashes into Yasuko's now locked hospital room window. The only thing she's able to see of the figure before it drops is it's white, spiky- like hair.

::

Jiraiya trudges through the door, very annoyed and with a red mark on his face.

"Oh, you're back." Says Yasuko with an innocent smile. "What happened? You took a while."

"Don't you even start it."

"Start what?"

"I trusted you."

"We have a door for a reason."

He narrows his eyes at her and scoffs before pulling a chair and setting it at the foot of her bed. "So." He starts, plopping himself into the chair. "Anything else you wanna tell me? You seem pretty bent of getting rid of me."

Yasuko ignores his latter statement and doesn't answer his question. She didn't have anything else to tell him anyway.

Instead she asks her own. One that she's been meaning to ask since he first got there.

"How many times can someone die?"

Jiraiya's expression suddenly softens and he sighs. "Sakura told me you didn't remember the incident."

"I didn't."

"But it's been bothering you?"

"I don't know, I mean, why wouldn't it be?" She retorts. "Apparently, I _died_." She sits up and gestures to herself. "Yet here I am. Very much alive." She flops back down on her pillow and throws a hand over her eyes. "What am I supposed to do knowing that?" She murmurs.

"This is affecting you more than I thought." Is all he says and Yasuko laughs dryly. "A lot more." He adds.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She mumbles.

Jiraiya shrugs his shoulders. "Just seems to me that you're acting like a completely different person. You didn't used to be so… blunt."

She doesn't move her head, but she makes a point to stare at him from the side of her eye. "I died already and yet I'm still alive, being blunt is probably the least of my worries."

Jiraiya laughs. "See?"

She rolls her eyes, looking away and shutting them. "Is it a bad thing?" She asks quietly. "The bluntness, I mean."

"No, no." He says with a reassuring wave of his hand. "I wouldn't say it's a bad thing. You've had it even before you found out about your… apparent death. It just didn't use to be so obvious." He says with a weak laugh.

Yasuko furrows her brow. "Thanks, I guess."

"Anytime, kid."

"But you never answered my question." She says, glancing towards him. "The one you seem to be avoiding for some reason?"

"Throwing my own words back at me, huh?" He chuckles.

She shrugs and looks away, trying to hide her oncoming smirk. "It's only fair." Her eyes lower and she drops her hand and she moves to sit up. "So?"

"I don't know how you expect me to answer such a question." He sighs. "As far as I'm concerned, you can only die once. You can come close to death, but that's about it." He came close to death. Twice. But he'd never actually died.

And he didn't know if dying only to be brought back to life a few moments later was considered the same thing, because rarely did that ever happen.

Besides, how would he even know if he had? He'd be dead and that would be the end of it.

It would be like sleeping. You only really ever realize that you've fallen asleep when you've woken up the next day.

But the difference was that with dying you wouldn't wake up.

You'd never be aware that you passed.

Yasuko blinks. "So, it was just crazy talk then?" She asks, eyes hopeful. "There wasn't any truth behind it, right? I was just talking nonsense."

Jiraiya shakes his head. "I wouldn't go as far as to say that. You didn't remember it, but as for all of us who were there? What do you think we saw?"

She clutches at the blanket beneath her fingers. "What?" She asks hesitantly.

"Well, all we saw was a desperate cry for help."

"And then I passed out." She finishes.

He chuckles. "And then you passed out."

The two sit in a strange, but comfortable silence for the next few minutes. Nothing else had to be said.

::

"So, what else were you forced to think about?" Jiraiya asks with a chuckle.

Yasuko shrugs her shoulders. "I realized I have a hatred towards hospitals."

Jiraiya scoffs. "Who doesn't?"

She reaches over to her left side of her bed and pulls the white curtain open around her bed.

Jiraiya's eyes widening as the cloth opens to reveal that it's ripped about halfway down. "What did you do to it?" He blurts.

"Apparently that's how strong my hatred towards hospitals is." She replies, eyes lowered. "I mean, I didn't mean it so..." She adds.

"Yeah, I think that's pretty obvious." He says, turning and gesturing to her crestfallen expression. "But you're fine now, aren't you?"

Yasuko shrugs. "Yeah, but I still hate it here."

Jiraiya suddenly stands up and cracks his knuckles, determination set in his eyes. "Ok, I'm bailing you out. We have some business to take of anyway."

Yasuko's eyes light up and she leaps up on top of her blanket. "Wait, seriously?"

He raises a finger to his lips pointedly before waving his hands towards the door. "Yeah, yeah, now be quiet, would ya? You're not even supposed to leave until later."

"Aw, you're finally using the door."

"Hey, don't you sass me!"

Yasuko jumps off her bed and tiptoes towards the door eagerly, passing Jiraiya and brushing off his comment as well. "Ok, ok, let's go!"

Jiraiya sighs and pulls the tattered curtain off the hangers, wrapping it around Yasuko. "Use this until we find a lab coat for you to sneak out with." He says. "And it won't kill you to have a little patience, y'know."

It takes a few seconds and an irritated glare from Yasuko for him to realize how inconvenient his choice of words are. He visibly winces. "I swear I did not do that on purpose." He says, raising his hands up in defense.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow and wraps the cloth around herself tighter, before turning back to the door. "Yeah, ok." She says reaching for the handle and fighting back a grin. She'd worry about what he said later. Right now, she wanted freedom. She slides the door open. "Now, let's go."

The sound of various objects crashing to the ground suddenly echoed through the hall and Jiraiya quickly pulls Yasuko a few steps backwards towards him almost on instinct. A few moments later, someone starts trudging through that hall, a limp in their step and a hand pressed against their side as their other hand was used to steady themselves against the wall.

Yasuko watches as the person continues forward, unmoving from her spot. It was Ren.

Ren reaches her door and snaps his head towards her. "Is there a problem?"

Yasuko starts shaking her head only to stop. "Are you sure it's okay for you to be moving in that condition?"

"I'm fine." He bites out in annoyance, moving forward again. "Mind your own business."

"If we're being fair, you're the one who initiated the conversation."

Ren halts in his steps and cranes his neck back as he starts to glare at her only to stare blankly with wide, confused eyes as he sees her with a small smile. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

"You want to leave, right?" She asks him, waiting for the- slightly puzzled- nod of his head before continuing. "Well I want to leave too." She says, walking back into the room and walking out with another piece of cloth- her blanket. She begins wrapping the blanket around Ren as Jiraiya watches quietly. She didn't know why he wanted to leave the hospital and she didn't know why she was helping him either, but based off what she had heard the day before, it didn't seem like the place was doing him any good either too. They'd probably bring him- and maybe even her- back in anyway, so she figured she might as well grant him a few moments of freedom before then.

Ren shoves her hands away and steps back almost revolted. "What is this, a joke?"

Yasuko pauses and blinks. "No." She finally says. "I'm dead serious." She hears Jiraiya snicker from inside and she cringes when she realizes her choice of words. Sighing, she marches back into the room, pulling Jiraiya out by the sleeve of his shirt. "He's going to help us out."

Ren eyes Jiraiya up and down and stares at Yasuko blankly. "You're telling me that this guy is our hope of escape?"

"Excuse me?!" Shouts Jiraiya, very offended. "Do you know who I am?!"

Yasuko offers Ren a sympathetic smile before turning to Jiraiya. "Can we just take him too? Please? I don't get it either, but we might as well take him too since we all have the same idea in mind. Maybe he can help." She whispers, glancing around suspiciously. "Besides, someone's bound to find us any second anyway."

Jiraiya turns his head to the side and unfolds his crossed arms as he forms a hand sign. "Fine." He complies, even though he knows he can get through the hospital and out in no time without Ren. And then he's surrounded by a puff of smoke.

Yasuko and Ren both cough and wave the smoke away, staring at the figure being revealed from within the smoke.

"What do you think? It's perfect, isn't it?"

"Why did you turn into Tsunade?" Blurts Yasuko.

Jiraiya/ fake Tsunade grins. "No one would argue with the hokage if she said she was taking you guys out, right?" He gestures to himself. "And I think I did a pretty good job in the curv- "

"Uh huh, ok, let's go." Yasuko blurts, cutting him off as she walks ahead.

Ren scoffs and starts walking after. "Whatever, just get us out of here."

"That's the plan." Says Jiraiya, walking ahead of the two and being the lead of the trio. "Now, stay close behind while I scout the area. If you find the coats, grab one for now and I'll return it later. You're gonna have to try blending in with the other medics."

Yasuko hesitates before nodding her head in understanding. "Understood." She says, despite not really liking the latter aspect of his plan.

"Yeah, sure." Says Ren as if without a care, but he's got the general message.

And so the three begin their escape.

* * *

Is it too long? Is it too short? Is it just fine? I don't know, but what do you think?

Frankly, as for me, I have mixed opinions… but I want to develop the relationships in this, so T^T.

That among other things, but maybe its just me this time. ^^;

Edit: Sorry this is so late, my med class and senior year totally high jacked my attention this year and I forgot to add the last chapter I have with a note that I'd be off for a while, as you can see ^^;; but its summer now so hopefully i can get back to working on some more fics before college starts T^T.

Anyway,

Thank you to those that read, reviewed, followed, favorited, or just took the time to just check this out!

Thanks for reading!


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